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Amazon Labor Union (ALU) members voted in June 2024 to affiliate with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, creating ALU-IBT Local 1. The Teamsters said the new local would represent about 5,500 Amazon warehouse workers at JFK8 on Staten Island and have jurisdiction over Amazon warehouse workers across New York City’s five boroughs. The affiliation added access to Teamsters resources and a stronger organizing structure; it did not itself deliver a contract.
What does the Amazon Labor Union’s Teamsters affiliation mean?
ALU members voted June 15–17, 2024, to affiliate with the Teamsters. The Teamsters reported that 98.3 percent voted in favor and described the result as the creation of ALU-International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 1. The vote joined a worker-led union with a larger national labor organization; it was an organizational change, not a new bargaining agreement.
The Teamsters said Local 1 would have access to resources from the Teamsters International Union, the Teamsters Amazon Division, and Joint Council 16 in New York. The AP’s June 2024 account described the contemplated local as autonomous, while the Teamsters emphasized the additional institutional and organizing support. The Teamsters described itself at the time as representing 1.3 million members; that is the union’s stated membership figure, not an independently audited count.
Which Amazon workers was Local 1 intended to represent?
In its June 2024 announcement, the Teamsters said the local’s announced scope centered on approximately 5,500 Amazon warehouse workers at JFK8 and extended to Amazon warehouse workers in New York City’s five boroughs. The headcount and jurisdiction are the union’s announced figures and claims. ALU’s current website identifies the organization as ALU-IBT Local 1.
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Why did the organizations join forces?
Both organizations presented the affiliation as a way to organize Amazon workers and pursue a contract at JFK8. Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien said the organizations would work to help Amazon workers secure “the good jobs and safe working conditions they deserve in a union contract.” That statement described the union’s aim, not an achieved contract or verified improvement in working conditions.
O’Brien also cited an agreement covering 340,000 UPS warehouse workers and drivers as an example of Teamsters bargaining power. That figure, too, was the Teamsters’ description in 2024; it does not establish what Amazon workers would secure in negotiations.
Did the affiliation get Amazon workers a contract?
No contract followed automatically from the affiliation. The Teamsters’ June 2024 announcement described contract negotiations as a goal. At the time of its June 2024 reporting, the Associated Press said Amazon had appealed the JFK8 union vote and bargaining had not advanced. AP also reported internal disagreement and ALU losses at two other New York facilities; those were contemporaneous conditions, not necessarily a description of the organization today.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What happened after the NLRB bargaining order?
On April 2, 2026, the Teamsters announced that the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) had ruled Amazon illegally refused to recognize ALU-IBT Local 1 and ordered the company to begin negotiations. The Teamsters also said Amazon had exhausted its NLRB appeal options on the unionization issue. These are the Teamsters’ descriptions of the development; the underlying NLRB decision was not independently confirmed here.
The available reporting does not establish whether negotiations subsequently began or whether the parties reached a contract by October 7, 2026. An order to negotiate and a signed collective bargaining agreement are separate milestones.
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