Workers arrive at an Amazon distribution center in the early morning
Amazon's fulfilment center in Staten Island in October.
Craig Ruttle/AP Photo
  • Amazon warehouse employees in New York withdrew their union petition on Friday, AP News reported.
  • They planned to resubmit it "ASAP," said Christian Smalls, a former employee leading the effort.
  • The union drive was announced in April, after a similar effort failed in Alabama.

Amazon warehouse staffers in Staten Island on Friday withdrew their petition to unionize from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), according to multiple reports.

The workers planned to resubmit their petition as soon as possible, Christian Smalls, a former Amazon employee who's leading the drive, said on Twitter.

"@amazonlabor has met all the requirements along with submitting over 2K signed cards," Smalls said. "We're facing a turnover rate of 150% so the card check didn't go in favor this time do not get discouraged we will resubmit ASAP."

NLRB officials confirmed the withdrawal, The Associated Press and The Washington Post reported late Friday. A hearing had been scheduled for November 22.

Amazon didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Leaders of the Amazon Staten Island union petition hold up paper labor forms
Christian Smalls, president of the Amazon Labor Union, joins supporters at the Amazon distribution center in the Staten Island borough of New York, Monday, Oct. 25, 2021, as he holds "Authorization of Representation" forms that were earlier delivered to the National Labor Relations Board in New York.
Craig Ruttle/AP Photo

The union drive in Staten Island, a borough in New York City, was announced in late April, a few weeks after a failed attempt to unionize by another group in Bessemer, Alabama. About 71% of valid votes cast in Bessemer were against unionization.

Amazon, one of the country's largest employers, has previously been accused of attempting to stop workers from unionizing by posting anti-union messaging.

In Alabama, after the company was accused of intimidation, it said: "It's easy to predict the union will say that Amazon won this election because we intimidated employees, but that's not true. Our employees heard far more anti-Amazon messages from the union, policymakers, and media outlets than they heard from us."

In Staten Island, NLRB officials found that Amazon management had illegally stopped a worker from handing out union pamphlets, Vice reported in August.

Amazon opened its Staten Island fulfillment center in September 2018.

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