Amazon workers reject union in NY state in blow to organizing effort

Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) workers rejected organizing a New York state warehouse by a nearly two-to-one margin on Tuesday, handing another defeat to the fledgling labor union that had aimed to build momentum in its cross-country campaign.

At ALB1, the retailer's fulfillment center in Castleton-on-Hudson near the state's capital Albany, employees voted 406 to 206 against joining the Amazon Labor Union in the company's fourth such contest of the year. Turnout was more than 64%.

Led by former Amazon employee Christian Smalls, the ALU this spring had delivered a first-ever victory for labor groups seeking to unionize Amazon in the United States, winning a vote in New York City at one of the retailer's largest warehouses in the country.

An array of challenges since have shown that organizing America's second-biggest private employer after Walmart Inc (WMT.N) remains elusive. Unions for years have aimed to stem labor practices pioneered by Amazon that they find deleterious, like extensive vetting of workers' productivity.

With Tuesday's loss, Amazon workers have rejected forming unions three times this year, including at a second New York City facility and another in Alabama. The ALU cannot collectively bargain where it won this spring in the borough of Staten Island, either: a U.S. labor board director is reviewing objections to that contest by Amazon before certifying the result.