Politcians and RWDSU President Stuart Appelbaum pose for a picture at the entrance to the Amazon facility in Bessemer. The company also suggested that the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) had unfairly influenced the vote. The company released a statement on Friday saying that, while it was disappointed with the outcome in Staten Island, it was exploring next steps. “It could force Amazon to come up with a new strategy nationwide,” Tamara Lee, a professor at Rutgers University, told Yahoo Finance.
Still, the victory in Staten Island could have ramifications for Amazon workers across the country. To be sure, Alabama’s neighbors in the Deep South are even less union-friendly - South Carolina is the least-unionized state, with membership rates at 1.7%. The figures in Alabama are much lower, at about 6%. In 2021, Hawaii and New York were the most unionized states in the country, with membership rates at 22.4% and 22.2% respectively, according to a Bureau of Labor Statistics report. In a right-to-work state, employees are not required to join or pay dues to a union in order to work for a given company. “The level of outside pressure against the union in Alabama is so high, whereas New York is a pro-union state.” “Alabama is an anti-union, right-to-work state,” said Patricia Campos-Medina, a Cornell University labor expert. The difference, experts said, is in part a matter of location, location, location. However, in Staten Island, where workers voted to be represented by the emerging Amazon Labor Union, it was a resounding victory.
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