Exclusive: Amazon instructs New York workers ‘don’t sign’ union cards

Amazon, the second-largest employer in the United States, has made plain its desire to keep its workforce from unionizing. In one of its warehouses, ALB1 in upstate New York, that message has become crystal clear: “Don’t sign a card.” 

Photos of the new digital signage were sent to Engadget by an employee at the facility. Their presence was confirmed by a second employee, David, who claims to have been at the fulfillment center approximately since its opening in 2020. According to David (whose full name is being withheld for fear of retribution by his employer), the carousel of anti-union posters went up today and cycles between approximately seven different slides, each actively discouraging workers from signing a union card. “It’s on a constant loop while people punch in and punch out of their shifts,” he said, “[when] they go on their breaks, or they go on their lunch. Any time that we’re going to be up towards the front.” 

Amazon has been known to post signage meant to discourage unionization at other facilities. As Vicereported in March, workers at JFK8 in Staten Island, New York were treated to an array of posters with circumspect slogans like “Is union life for me?” and “Will the [Amazon Labor Union]’s voice replace mine?” The signage at ALB1 appears to represent the most forceful tack the company has taken in expressing its disdain for an organized workforce. The company also has a track record of breaking labor laws and frustrating organizing efforts: firing or otherwise retaliating against workers, preventing workers from handing out pamphlets, and interfering with a union election. Behind closed doors, the company also planned a smear campaign against a prominent organizer. 

We’ve asked both Amazon and the National Labor Relations Board for comment on the legality of this signage and will update our story if receive a response. 

Workers at ALB1 have been pushing to form a union since at least May. It’s not yet clear if the organizing efforts are pointed toward joining Amazon Labor Union, the grassroots group that successfully voted to unionize one of the Staten Island facilities in April. That said, based on the new signage, management at this fulfillment center appears to consider the group its primary threat. Nearly all of the signs specifically reference ALU, which the company calls “untested and unproven.” Another even suggests joining ALU would involve giving up some measure of personal privacy, though it’s not clear in what way. We’ve asked ALU for comment as well and will update this story if we hear back from the group. 

Apple Store employees in Maryland vote to unionize

Apple Store employees at the company’s Towson Town Center location in Maryland have voted to unionize. According to the Coalition of Organized Retail Employees, the group that led the unionization effort, workers voted “overwhelming” in favor of joining the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM). With the historic vote, the store is now on track to become the first unionized Apple retail location in the US.

Towson Town Center became the first Apple Store in the US to hold a union election after workers at another retail location in Atlanta withdrew their petition to hold a union vote last month. While Apple hasn’t explicitly come out against its frontline workers organizing, the company has been broadly accused of employing union-busting tactics. It reportedly hired the same anti-union law firm employed by Starbucks and subjected workers to so-called “captive audience meetings.” In Georgia, organizers called off a union vote at the company’s Cumberland Mall location over intimidation claims. Ahead of today’s vote, AppleCore said it was organizing out of a “deep love of our role as workers within the company and out of care for the company itself.”

Apple declined to comment. 

“I applaud the courage displayed by CORE members at the Apple store in Towson for achieving this historic victory,” said IAM International President Robert Martinez Jr. in a statement following the vote. “They made a huge sacrifice for thousands of Apple employees across the nation who had all eyes on this election. I ask Apple CEO Tim Cook to respect the election results and fast-track a first contract for the dedicated IAM CORE Apple employees in Towson. This victory shows the growing demand for unions at Apple stores and different industries across our nation.”

In the immediate future, today’s vote is likely to bolster ongoing unionization efforts at two Apple Stores in New York and Kentucky, but if recent history shows anything, it’s that a domino effect isn’t guaranteed. After the Amazon Labor Union led workers at Amazon’s JFK8 warehouse in Staten Island to a historic labor win in April, the group failed to achieve the same result one month later a facility across the street.