Amazon has dismissed more than six managers at the warehouse in Staten Island where thousands of workers voted last month to form the company's first union, according to a report from the New York Times.
The company fired several senior managers at the 8,000-person facility, including some with more than six years of experience, according to the Times report. Amazon was stunned by an upset loss in the union vote in late March and has since challenged the results, protesting the conduct of both the Amazon Labor Union organizers and the National Labor Relations Board, the federal body responsible for administering the election.
A second union election at a smaller Staten Island facility (also spearheaded by the nationally unaffiliated Amazon Labor Union) went in favor of Amazon earlier this week. Out of about 1,500 eligible workers, 380 voted in favor of the union and 618 against, with two ballots void. The Staten Island warehouse that voted against the union has a much smaller ALU presence and represented mostly part-time workers, compared to the larger facility's more full-time staff.
"Part of our culture at Amazon is to continually improve, and we believe it’s important to take time to review whether or not we’re doing the best we could be for our team. Over the last several weeks, we’ve spent time evaluating aspects of the operations and leadership at JFK8 and, as a result, have made some management changes," Kelly Nantel, an Amazon spokesperson, wrote in a statement to Protocol.