Amazon workers at Southern California warehouse file for union election in potential first for state

Amazon workers astatine a warehouse successful Southern California person filed a petition to signifier a national with the National Labor Relations Board.

Employees astatine the warehouse, located successful Moreno Valley, California, are seeking to beryllium represented by the Amazon Labor Union, a grassroots radical of existent and erstwhile Amazon workers that successfully unionized a Staten Island warehouse, referred to arsenic JFK8, earlier this year.

Should an predetermination beryllium authorized by the National Labor Relations Board astatine ONT8, it would beryllium the archetypal clip employees astatine an Amazon installation successful California person held a ballot connected whether to articulation a union.

Kayla Blado, a spokesperson for NLRB, confirmed organizers astatine ONT8 filed a petition with the bureau connected Tuesday for a projected portion of 800 workers. Blado said the NLRB is waiting for further paperwork from the national earlier it tin statesman to verify that the radical has obtained a showing of interest, which would bespeak that it's met the required threshold for worker signatures.

ALU person Chris Smalls said successful a tweet that a petition was filed, and helium congratulated the workers for taking steps to signifier their facility. "More details to come," helium added.

Representatives from Amazon didn't instantly respond to a petition for comment.

The determination adds to a caller upswing of labour organizing among Amazon workers. The historical ballot astatine Amazon's JFK8 warehouse kicked disconnected further unionization attempts astatine different facilities, including astatine a tract adjacent Albany, wherever workers are slated to statesman voting connected Wednesday connected whether to articulation the ALU. The predetermination wraps up connected Oct. 17, and the NLRB volition commencement tallying ballots the pursuing day.

ONT8 is portion of the Inland Empire, a portion located eastbound of Los Angeles that's been a large absorption of improvement for Amazon and different e-commerce companies. Warehouses and transportation hubs person rapidly sprung up successful caller years, raising concerns about contamination and different biology harms.

Amazon is the region's largest backstage employer, with astir 40,000 workers. The institution employed much than 1.6 cardinal radical globally arsenic of the extremity of 2021.

Workers astatine a large Amazon aerial hub successful adjacent San Bernardino recently held walkouts to request wage increases and item information concerns. They pledged to locomotion retired again this week, alongside radical astatine facilities successful Georgia and Illinois, successful clip for Amazon's fall Prime Day discount event, to impulse the institution to respond to worker concerns astir moving conditions.

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