Last month, a grassroots labour movement made history by forming the first union at an Amazon warehouse in the United States, but now have lost a union election at a much smaller facility across the street. 

The election took place last week at a Staten Island sorting facility known as LDJ5. The votes were counted Monday. 

This is the second union election the Amazon Labor Union (ALU) has organized. The newly formed body began with some local workers at an Amazon warehouse and is led by an employee who was fired by the company. 

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The vote counting showed an overwhelming majority didn’t want a union. There were 618 votes against unionizing and 380 in favour. A total of 998 votes were counted among 1,633 eligible voters. There were no challenged ballots and two were voided. 

Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nante, in a statement, said the company is “glad that our team at LDJ5 were able to have their voices heard. We look forward to continuing to work directly together as we strive to make every day better for our employees”, CNN reported. 

The ALU tweeted news of their defeat, concluding “The organizing will continue at this facility and beyond. The fight has just begun.”

The election drew significant attention from prominent political figures like Democrats Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. 

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Sean O’Brien, general president of the Teamsters, the 1903 labour union, said after the ALU defeat “The fight at Amazon continues. The only thing this greedy, abusive company won today is a guarantee that Amazon workers everywhere will not give up until they have a union”. 

The union’s success in Amazon’s JFK8 warehouse, where there are over 8,000 employees, has been seen as a milestone event and has gained the ALU praise from established labour unions, advocacy groups, and the White House.