Amazon No Longer Facing Union Vote In New Jersey

The US National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) on Tuesday has said the labour union has withdrawn its petition to represent Amazon workers in a New Jersey facility.

On Monday the NLRB revealed that a small Amazon facility in northern New Jersey had shown enough interest to hold a vote on unionising.

It came just weeks after Amazon warehouse (JFK8) in Staten Island, New York became the first warehouse in Amazon’s 28-year history to successfully vote to unionise.

Union election

At least 60 of 200 workers from Amazon’s delivery depot (DNK5) in Bayonne, New Jersey, had submitted cards seeking to organise as part of Local 713 International Brotherhood of the Trade Union (IBOTU), the NLRB said.

The proposed Bayonne union would cover 200 workers at the fulfillment centre on Newark Bay that opened in 2020.

NLRB spokesperson Kayla Blado told The New York Post on Monday that at least 30 percent of the eligible employees had signed union cards and that the agency is now working to schedule a union election.

But now the NLRB has said the Local 713 International Brotherhood of the Trade Union (IBOTU) has withdrawn its petition to represent workers.

The NLRB was in the process of scheduling a union election when the labor group withdrew its request on Tuesday, NLRB spokesperson Kayla Blado told The New York Post.

Petition withdrawn

“The union withdrew the petition for Amazon in New Jersey and the Regional Director will approve the withdrawal,” she said.

Steven Kern, an attorney who represents the IBOTU, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.

According to the New York Post, Local 713 of the International Brotherhood of Trade Unions had alleged links to the mob in previous years.