The leaders, Christian Smalls and Mr. Palmer, met with the heads of main labor unions, who vowed sources and help. Senator Bernie Sanders, the Vermont impartial, and Consultant Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Democrat of New York, rallied in entrance of LDJ5 on April 24, the day earlier than voting started.
At JFK8, staff typically have 10-hour shifts, if not longer, 4 days per week, however at LDJ5, many work half time. The dearth of full-time work has turn into a standard grievance, notably for the reason that location on Staten Island typically requires lengthy commutes.
However part-time staff are usually more durable to arrange as a result of they work together much less and have decrease total funding of their office. At Amazon, part-time workers don’t get well being care, however they do have entry to different advantages, like 401(ok) matching, that aren’t usually related at different part-time jobs.
Micheal Aguilar, an worker on the facility who was energetic in supporting the union, mentioned a number of co-workers he had gotten to know personally had confided that they voted no.
āA few of them are younger ā I donāt suppose they even know what a union is,ā Mr. Aguilar mentioned, including: āI imagine they thought Amazon was only a steppingstone, after which gather cash from this place after which go into their very own careers. They didnāt perceive why they might need it if itās simply momentary to them.ā
The union pressed for the vote although a lot of its prime officers and organizers work at JFK8 relatively than the smaller facility, giving the group a weaker presence inside. Organizers tried to counter this within the weeks earlier than the voting by often spending a couple of hours speaking to staff exterior LDJ5 after their shifts, however they conceded they didn’t have the identical relationship with staff there.