By Jeffrey Dastin

NEW YORK, (Reuters) – Two warehouses, each measuring four football pitches in length, face one another to speed goods to Amazon (NASDAQ) customers in New York City, and further afield from Staten Island’s western shore. The two warehouses are part of one operation and they both hire from the same community. They also decide within 30 days whether or not to join the union.

Both voted for the candidate.

Interviews conducted with employees of LDJ5, which rejected the Amazon Labor Union’s (ALU) membership on Monday, show that different job roles, schedules, and people can lead to opposing outcomes when organizing campaigns. Some of this difference can also be explained by a look at the gray buildings.

Amazon refers to the warehouse as JFK8 as a fulfillment centre. The warehouse employs more than 8000 workers, who work in shifts of 10-12 hours to stow and count thousands of items, as well as pick up, pack, and ship them. After COVID-19’s explosion in New York City in spring 2020, the JFK8 staff became infected and Amazon tried safety precautions. Some workers also protested the closure of the site.

Christian Smalls, Derrick Palmer and others protestors founded the ALU. They won the first U.S. Union vote in Amazon’s 27-year history using their inside knowledge of the warehouse. About 55% of JFK8’s employees voted for them.

The margin at LDJ5 was nearly reversed — a sister site which didn’t even exist when Smalls and Palmer protested. Amazon had the facility opened less than two years before Smalls and Palmer protested. It employed five times as many people in another job.

Dominque Booker worked in both buildings and found her work at LDJ5 “really simple” compared with JFK8. “Your back doesn’t hurt, your feet don’t hurt.” She voted against union.

During their trip to customers, staff at LDJ5 sort pre-packaged orders according to zip codes. Maria Rios also voted against unionization and said that she worked four hour shifts with a 30-minute break. She said that her job allows for flexibility, including the possibility of taking time off or working extra hours to get more money.

Rios stated that Amazon isn’t the “monster” they are trying to make it out to be.

Amazon has been long criticised by labor activists for the hard work it puts in, its productivity targets, and high injury rates in warehouses. They also fault Amazon for holding compulsory meetings to inform workers about unions.

Amazon said that the company wants its staff to be able to see and understand that safety is important, that Amazon sets fair goals and invests in it. Kelly Nantel spoke on behalf of the company. She said, “We are glad that our team at LDJ5 had been able to make their voices heard.”

Jose Perez voted in favor of the union, saying he wanted better compensation for his daily walk (10 to 12 miles) on the job. He said that New York’s minimum wage of $18.25 was not sufficient to save money and have enough income to cover your expenses.

Perez, however, was outnumbered by 618 to 382 associates such as Iveliz Rivera who claimed that the ALU’s $30 per hour demand was unreasonable and unionizing might mean she pays dues. She told Reuters, “That’s the money that I depend on to support my child.”

More than 100 workers from Amazon U.S. facilities reached out to ALU for help in organizing. JFK8 workers also sought out signs of improvement after the first vote.

The ALU has to defend its win against Amazon so that it can begin bargaining. It also needs organizers who will lead other Amazon-related initiatives.

John Logan, labor professor at San Francisco State University said that the grassroots nature of an organization could both benefit and harm. This organization does not have big pockets. The energy, enthusiasm, and momentum that are created through victories is a major factor in the worker-driven organizing campaigns’ success.

The ALU’s JFK8 connections provided many benefits, but organizers ran into their match at LDJ5 when trusted insiders encouraged fellow peers to vote against. Esther Jackson, a worker, expressed concern that ALU leaders had organized the event because they were fired.

She said, “This union was not made out of love.”