Amazon Warehouse Union Sued by Former Members Seeking Election

The first-ever union of Amazon.com, Inc. workers in the US is facing a lawsuit by a group of dissenters who allege that current leaders are illegally holding up officer elections.

A complaint filed by more than 40 objectors in the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York accuses Amazon Labor Union President Chris Small and his deputies of unilaterally changing the union’s constitution, stacking leadership positions with loyalists, and threatening reprisal against anyone who disagreed with their approach.

It’s the clearest sign yet of dysfunction inside ALU—which won an improbable victory last year to represent 8,000 workers at a Staten Island Amazon warehouse—raising questions about the group’s ability to achieve a first contract with the e-commerce giant.

The workers allege Smalls’ cohort “created such internal union disarray that no legitimate body is available to conduct fair and democratic elections in the union; all as part of a scheme to suppress democratic dissent, and democratic practices among members of this fledgling labor union.”

Smalls declined to comment through a spokeswoman when reached by phone Tuesday.

The dissenters say the union’s constitution was changed to allow current leaders to remain in power. An earlier version of the document required an election to be held 60 days after the results of the representation election were certified, according to the complaint.

But before the election was certified by the federal labor board, union leaders changed the constitution to specify that the polls would be held three months after a contract is ratified with Amazon. That could take years, if it ever happens.

The plaintiffs are asking the court to order an election and oversee the process, taking the unusual step of appointing a federal monitor to resolve further disputes.

Those are rare but not unheard-of steps, usually reserved for unions that have been consumed by corruption.

The United Auto Workers have a federal monitor under a 2021 consent decree with the US Department of Justice to settle a sprawling bribery scandal. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters similarly spent three decades under oversight after the union was found to be enmeshed with organized crime.

The case is Sylla v. Amazon Labor Union, E.D.N.Y., No. 1:23-cv-05261, 7/10/23.