New Amazon Union vote

Workers at a New York Amazon warehouse Monday filed a petition to hold a unionization vote, months after a first attempt at a similar vote in Bessemer, Ala., fell short.

Organizers at the Staten Island facility say they have gathered more than 2,000 signed cards authorizing a worker-led group called the Amazon Labor Union (ALU) to represent them.

The group is headed by Christian Smalls, a former worker at the facility whose firing toward the start of the coronavirus pandemic drew national attention, and is not formally tied to any existing labor unions.

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) will have to validate the request to eventually hold a vote. The Staten Island facility has roughly 6,000 workers and the board normally requires at least 30 percent of the proposed bargaining unit to sign cards.