In a historic move for organized labor in the modern era, employees at an Amazon fulfillment warehouse on Staten Island just voted to form a union. This marks the first time that U.S. employees of the e-commerce giant, the second-largest employer in the country, have successfully voted to unionize.
A total of more than 8,300 workers from the warehouse, Amazon’s only one in New York City, were eligible to vote. The yeses were victorious by a significant margin — 2,654 voted in favor while 2,131 voted in opposition. As of press time, Amazon had yet to comment on the outcome of the vote.
“This will be the first union,” said warehouse employee Derrick Palmer, who co-founded the union, dubbed Amazon Labor Union, “but moving forward, that will motivate other workers to get on board with us.”
