Lawmakers want to add protections for Amazon warehouse workers

A year out from S.I. unionization vote, contract talks remain a mirage

Warehouse workers at the massive JFK-8 Amazon facility on Staten Island voted to unionize in April 2022, but in the year since the landmark vote, not a single bargaining session toward a first contract has taken place. 

In lieu of an agreement that would in all likelihood raise wages, institute worker protections and mandate more health and safety protocols, union leaders, advocates and politicians citywide have been taking those issues into their own hands. For instance, state lawmakers passed and Governor Kathy Hochul signed the Warehouse Worker Protection Act last year, which instituted protections from unreasonably demanding work quotas at large warehouses in the state.