Backed by the grassroots labour group that had secured the first-ever union victory of an Amazon warehouse within the US, workers of another warehouse filed a petition on Tuesday for an election in upstate New York in the hopes of similar outcome.

HIGHLIGHTS
Petition was filed for the warehouse which was referred to as ALB1
To qualify union election, the NLRB needs signatures from 30% of eligible voters
NLRB verified workers who have signed the petition were qualified for an election

National Labor Relations Board’s spokesperson had mentioned that the petition was filed for the warehouse which was referred to as ALB1, which was located in the town of Schodack which would be roughly 10 miles southeast of Albany.

In order to qualify for a union election, the NLRB needs signatures from 30 percent of eligible voters at a particular facility. Whether or not the workers were reached, that threshold would possibly be hashed out in the upcoming weeks.

Paul Flaningan, an Amazon spokesperson who had mentioned that the company had roughly 10,000 warehouse workers at the Schodack location. But in the filing, the Amazon Labour Union which was the nascent union backing up the workers had mentioned that there would be roughly 400 employees in the bargaining unit.

Heather Goodall, a warehouse employee and a former insurance agent who has been leading the organizing effort, earlier this month had mentioned in an interview that the workers had enough support to file for a union petition, but they were seem to delay so that they would be able to get even more signatures. On Tuesday, she has mentioned that the group's attorneys were absolutely not prepared in order to release information on the number of signatures collected to the public.

The NLRB would recently verify if the workers those who have signed the petition were qualified to seek an election. If the agency had approved, it need to sort out dates and times for an election between the company and the Amazon Labour Union, that had pulled off a union win on Staten Island, New York in April.

Eventually, she had mentioned that the organizers had decided to pursue a more grassroots approach and align with the ALU, which was based on a belief that the group had understood the company in a better manner than the other established unions.

Goodall had mentioned that “it appeared to make sense that we have a tendency to work directly with them, and would continue to build the Amazon Labour Union nationally.”

A labour victory in Schodack would basically broaden ALU's support inside Amazon and rework it into a touch point for labour concerns beyond Staten Island. It would revive enthusiasm that started to flail following the group's May loss at a second warehouse on Staten Island and had reported that it halted organizing at two different nearby facilities.

Therefore, organizers have mentioned that Amazon has already started holding meetings with workers in Schodack to discourage them from unionizing. In a statement, Flaningan has mentioned that the employees would be able to select what they need to do.

“As a company, we do not think that unions would be the most effective answer for our employees,' Flaningan has stated. 'Our focus remains on operating directly with our team in order to continue creating Amazon an excellent place to work.”

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