On November 12, ALU organizers withdrew their petition to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), as they were alerted that they did not have enough valid signatures for the board to initiate a vote on union representation.
The recent developments in Staten Island provide a near “mirror image,” according to Palmer, of the tactics used by Amazon earlier this year to fight unionization at a warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama, exposing parts of the company’s effective — and sometimes illegal — anti-union playbook and providing a valuable learning experience for the ALU.
Another union-busting tactic is “captive-audience meetings,” where workers are forced to listen to anti-union propaganda. Amazon held them daily in Bessemer, where it also posted anti-union messages on the inside of toilet doors. Vice recently released leaked audio from a captive-audience meeting held in the Staten Island warehouse.
“We continue to be a target for third parties who do not understand our pro-employee philosophy and seek to disrupt the direct relationship between Amazon and our associates,” said the operations manager at the meeting. An ALU member quickly pointed out that the organizers are not a third-party group, but workers themselves.