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More Amazon warehouse workers in New York file for a union election

It's the second location in Staten Island to make the formal request. A separate election begins in Alabama on Friday.

Laura Hautala Former Senior Writer
Laura wrote about e-commerce and Amazon, and she occasionally covered cool science topics. Previously, she broke down cybersecurity and privacy issues for CNET readers. Laura is based in Tacoma, Washington, and was into sourdough before the pandemic.
Expertise E-commerce, Amazon, earned wage access, online marketplaces, direct to consumer, unions, labor and employment, supply chain, cybersecurity, privacy, stalkerware, hacking. Credentials
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Laura Hautala
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Staten Island Amazon workers are seeking representation for the Amazon Labor Union, a new group formed by current and former Amazon workers.

JOHANNES EISELE/AFP via Getty Images

Amazon workers at a Staten Island warehouse have filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board to formally request a vote on unionizing, marking the second Amazon facility in the borough to request an election.

If approved, workers at the facility would vote on whether to be represented by the Amazon Labor Union, which announced the filing on Wednesday.

"This is an amazing moment in history, seeing Amazon workers finally taking the brave steps to make their voices heard," the union said in a tweet

An Amazon spokesperson said the company hasn't received notification from the NLRB about a petition at the second Staten Island location. The NLRB didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Amazon faces multiple organizing efforts around the country. A success at any one of them would bring in the first union representation at an Amazon facility in the US. In January, the NLRB said the union has enough signatures to go forward with an election at the first Staten Island facility. A separate union election will kick off for workers later this week at an Amazon facility in Bessemer, Alabama. 

The organizing drives at Amazon facilities come as union pushes pick up across the country. Workers at one Starbucks location in Buffalo, New York, voted to join Workers United and workers at more than 50 Starbucks locations are seeking to unionize. An REI store in New York is also looking at unionizing.

NLRB officials have made findings that Amazon violated labor laws during union pushes. An official with the agency threw out the results of a previous union vote at the Bessemer facility, finding that Amazon violated labor laws while its workers voted on whether to be represented by the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union. In Staten Island, NLRB prosecutors alleged that Amazon intimidated and interrogated warehouse workers considering unionization.