Amazon Labor Union partners with International Brotherhood of Teamsters in New York

Amazon workers have taken another step towards fighting for worker protections. The Amazon Labor Union (ALU) is teaming up with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT), a century-plus-old labor union active in the United States and Canada. The duo announced the partnership in a joint statement on X (formerly Twitter) following a vote that saw 98.3 percent of ALU members in favor of it.

“Together, with hard work, courage, and conviction, the Teamsters and ALU will fight fearlessly to ensure Amazon workers secure the good jobs and safe working conditions they deserve in a union contract,” Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien said in a statement. ALU-IBT Local 1 will represent about 5,500 JFK8 Amazon warehouse workers in Staten Island but will “have jurisdiction” for warehouse workers throughout New York City.

Staten Island served as a point of pride when, in April 2022, the ALU secured enough votes to make JFK8 Amazon’s first unionized warehouse in the US — one year after the ALU formed. However, Amazon tried overturning the vote, alleging “inappropriate and undue influence” from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). The conflict has since escalated, with the NLRB accusing Amazon of discriminating against the unionized workers in Staten Island and Amazon claiming in a legal filing earlier this year that the NLRB is “unconstitutional.”

As the fight continues, ALU President Chris Smalls states that “having the support of 1.3 million Teamsters to take on Amazon gives us tremendous worker power and the opportunities to demand better conditions for our members and, most importantly, to secure a contract at JFK8.”