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Workers at the Rensselaer County warehouse, located on Highway 9 in Schodack, voted 406 to 206 against being represented by the newly formed Amazon Labor Union (ALU), according to News Channel 13 WNYT in Albany.
Results of the multi-day vote were counted at a National Labor Relations Board office and were finalized shortly before noon.
Speaking with reporters after the vote, labor union organizer Heather Goodall said today’s outcome “wasn’t what we hoped for.”
“I’m proud of the great job we’ve done here,” she continued. “It’s a huge accomplishment.”
The vote was watched closely across the country as only one other Amazon warehouse, a facility in Staten Island, has voted to join the ALU.
In early October 2022, US Sen. Kristen Gillibrand joined dozens of union organizers and advocates at a rally held outside the Schodack warehouse.
“This is a righteous movement," Gillibrand said at the time. "Do not give up, do not give in. I will march with you from now 'til then, and we will get it done.”
Tuesday's vote came months after employees at the Schodack warehouse launched a GoFundMe campaign in August 2022 after claiming that management was retaliating against them for trying to unionize.
The campaign alleged that workers had been threatened, harassed, or fired since starting efforts with the ALU in June 2022.
“The anti-union propaganda has been so aggressive that managers have started verbally attacking organizers in the parking lot,” Goodall writes on the campaign.
An Amazon spokesperson later told Daily Voice the company “strongly disagrees with these allegations.”
"We do not retaliate against employees for exercising their rights," spokesperson John Flaningan said.
"Our employees have the choice of whether or not to join a union. Our focus remains on working directly with our team to continue making Amazon a great place to work.”
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