Amazon Union Vote Set to Begin in New York, Which Has Challenged Company in Past

Labor experts say the grass-roots effort could pose challenges for union supporters, as potential costs could escalate for appeals or in procedural questions. Some employees say they support the approach and how it has been handled locally, although others say they have concerns about the experience of those managing the effort.

The vote at a warehouse named JFK8, which employs about 7,500 people, will take place from March 25 to 30. Workers at a different Staten Island facility named LDJ5, which employs about 1,500 workers, will vote the week of April 25, with ballots being counted soon afterward.

Amazon pays a starting salary that averages about $18 an hour and has said it already provides much of what organizers ask for and prefers to negotiate with them directly. In a statement, the company said its focus “remains on working directly with our team to continue making Amazon a great place to work.”

The pro-union campaigners say they hope to improve pay, benefits and working conditions. During the pandemic, employees at the JFK8 warehouse emerged as some of Amazon’s most vocal and organized workers, holding protests calling for safer conditions as the company sought to meet a record number of orders during lockdowns.

Union organizers at the facilities say they hope the Staten Island votes will be the first of many successful organizing campaigns at Amazon, following a trend at

Starbucks Corp.

that began when baristas voted to unionize in Buffalo, N.Y. in December. That effort has spread to other locations.

“We hope to be like the Starbucks movement and branch out across the nation,” said

Chris Smalls,

a former Amazon employee heading the union effort in Staten Island. Mr. Smalls was fired by the company in 2020 in what he said was retaliation for his attempts to organize workers. Amazon said he violated safety protocols related to Covid-19.

Both elections are part of a broader labor movement that has drawn significant attention as Amazon became the nation’s second-largest private employer and began expanding its operations around the country. The U.S. is experiencing a tight labor market that has given employees more negotiating power.

A mail-in revote is also under way at a company facility in Bessemer, Ala. Amazon overwhelmingly prevailed in a contest at that facility in 2021, with about 71% of workers who cast ballots voting against unionization. But later, the National Labor Relations Board found Amazon exerted unlawful influence over workers.

The election a year ago in Alabama became the first campaign of its scale at Amazon. In Staten Island, Amazon is confronting a group of workers who have been vocal and organized for years in one of America’s most union-friendly states.

In 2019, the company canceled plans for a large expansion known as “HQ2” in the city after activists, elected officials and unions opposed the deal, which would have given Amazon nearly $3 billion in government incentives in exchange for creating about 25,000 jobs in the city. Around the same period, the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union tried to organize workers in Staten Island, an effort that eventually fizzled.

But protests by Amazon workers in the borough endured, and the tension heightened when the Covid-19 pandemic started.

Early in the health crisis, employees at JFK8 were among groups of Amazon workers throughout the nation to hold facility walkouts to protest working conditions. Many employees said at the time that Amazon didn’t take enough precautions to protect workers while it prioritized meeting customer demand for an uptick in orders.

Initially, the company struggled with communicating about employees who tested positive for Covid-19 and equipping workers with sufficient protective gear, according to workers. Performance quotas, including mandates that some employees sort or prepare hundreds of packages in an hour, remained unchanged.

During the pandemic, Amazon raised wages, introduced new safety training and said it would focus on building better relationships with its workers as part of an effort to become “Earth’s Best Employer,” a goal set by founder

Jeff Bezos

last year.

After his firing, Mr. Smalls, the union leader, continued to protest outside of the facility, and last April, he formed the “Amazon Labor Union,” a group of current and former employees that has run the campaign in Staten Island.

As the elections approach, the odds are against union supporters, labor experts say. No Amazon worker in the U.S. is represented by a union, and the company has invested in raising wages and benefits, as well as in showing employees why they should vote against unionization.

In Staten Island and Alabama, Amazon has held meetings at its facilities to discourage workers from siding with unions. The company has said the meetings provide employees opportunities to learn about what a union could mean for them. Company representatives often point out the infant status of Amazon Labor Union and bring up potential union fees workers could have to pay, according to interviews with employees. Amazon’s high turnover rates also make it difficult for union organizers to gain and sustain support, labor experts say.

“This union is brand new and has no experience,” said

James Celli,

a worker at JFK8 who said he is likely to vote against the union. Some workers have said they don’t see how a union could vastly improve pay and benefits for employees, with Amazon already providing wages more than two times above the national minimum and healthcare and 401(k) options.

Others see an opportunity to bring change.

Brett Daniels,

a JFK8 worker who has helped organize, said supporters appreciate that the Amazon Labor Union is independent from established unions and composed of many current and former workers in Staten Island. Some also said the union’s persistence has won over employees.

The group has campaigned almost daily for the past year, passing out food and water to employees and hosting small rallies. Mr. Smalls, who said he has remained unemployed since being fired, said the group is funded entirely through donations. As of this month, Amazon Labor Union had raised more than $100,000 through GoFundMe pages.

However the votes go, Mr. Smalls said he believes workers have already been winning. Aside from raising wages and boosting some benefits, the company late last year reached a settlement with the National Labor Relations Board to notify workers of their rights to organize, an unusual move from the retailer.

“We’ve had plenty of small victories along the way,” Mr. Smalls said. “We want to apply pressure and can still make more changes. We want to put workers in the driver’s seat.”

Write to Sebastian Herrera at Sebastian.Herrera@wsj.com