The growing labor organizing efforts at Amazon were dealt a blow on Monday when workers voted by a wide margin to reject forming a union at a second warehouse on Staten Island.
Employees cast 380 votes to be represented by a union and 618 against, according to the National Labor Relations Board. About 1,600 workers at the warehouse were eligible to vote.
The result was a setback for the upstart Amazon Labor Union, which last month won a landmark victory when workers at the larger, nearby Amazon warehouse, voted to unionize. The loss also points to the possible limits of an uptick in worker interest in unionizing at Amazon and beyond.
Over the six months ending in March, filings for union elections increased nearly 60 percent over the same period one year earlier. That trend has included companies that often hire more-educated workers into nonprofessional jobs, like Starbucks and the outdoor equipment chain REI. But labor experts and organizers say it can be harder to unionize workers who are less secure economically, since they may be more susceptible to pressure from an employer and more reluctant to risk getting involved in a union campaign.
While the union campaign that succeeded at the larger Amazon warehouse last month included a large fraction of full-time workers, a higher proportion of workers at the smaller facility are part-time and struggle to pay their bills.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Coral Murphy Marcos contributed reporting.
