Amazon’s first U.S. labor union moves to affiliate with Teamsters

The
Amazon
Labor
Union,
the
first
group
of
company
workers
to
organize
at
a
U.S.
warehouse,
said
Tuesday
that
it’s
taken
steps
to
affiliate
with
the
International
Brotherhood
of
Teamsters.

Formed
in
2021
as
a
grassroots
group
of
current
and
former
workers,
the
ALU
gained
national
attention

two
years
ago
by
winning
a
historic
union
election
in
Staten
Island,
New
York,
at
a
facility
known
as
JFK8.

The
ALU
originally
eschewed
major
labor
unions,
establishing
itself
instead
as
an
independent
organization.
But
the
group
has
struggled
to
negotiate
a
contract
with


Amazon,
which
sought
to
toss
out
the
2022
election
results,
and
rifts
have
formed
between
leader
Chris
Smalls
and
ALU
members.
A
group
of
former
members

sued
the
union
last
year,

accusing
it
of
violating
the
ALU’s
constitution
and
asking
a
Brooklyn
court
to
compel
it
to
hold
an
election
for
union
officers.

Aligning
with
the
Teamsters,
one
of
the
largest
labor
unions
in
the
U.S.,
could
give
the
ALU
additional
heft
to
jumpstart
negotiations
with
Amazon.
The
Teamsters,
formed
in
1903,
has
long
sought
to
organize
Amazon
warehouse
and
delivery
workers,
and
created
an
Amazon
division

in
2021
to
support
and
fund
workers
at
the
company
in
their
unionization
efforts.

In

a
post
on
X,
the
Teamsters
said
the
affiliation
was
unanimously
approved
by
the
union’s
board
on
Tuesday.
The
affiliation
agreement
is
tentative
until
members
of
the
ALU
and
the
Teamsters
vote
to
ratify
it,
Smalls
said
in
a
text
message.

The
decision
has
already
generated
pushback
from
the
ALU
Democratic
Reform
Caucus,
the
group
that
sued
the
ALU
last
year.
Arthur
Schwartz,
an
attorney
for
the
caucus,
said
it
was
unclear
how
the
ALU
will
hold
a
membership
vote
to
ratify
the
Teamsters
affiliation
when
it
“doesn’t
possess
a
list
of
employees,
much
less
a
membership
list.”

In
March,
ALU
members
voted
to
hold
an
election
for
new
union
officers.
Smalls
has
said
he
doesn’t
plan
to
run
for
reelection
as
ALU
president.
That
election
is
expected
to
be
held
in
July
in
person
outside
of
JFK8,
Schwartz
said.

The
Teamsters
declined
to
comment
further.
An
Amazon
spokesperson
also
declined
to
comment.