Union seeking to organize Amazon site in New Jersey withdraws petition for vote

(Reuters) -A labor group seeking to represent Amazon.com Inc workers in a small warehouse in New Jersey has withdrawn its petition for a unionization vote, a spokesperson for the U.S. National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) said on Tuesday.

The move came a day after the NLRB said the group, Local 713 International Brotherhood of the Trade Union, had garnered enough interest from workers at Amazon’s small DNK5 facility to hold the vote. The reason for the withdrawal was not immediately clear.

Representatives for the union and Amazon did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Labor organizing at Amazon, the second-largest private employer in the United States, has gained momentum since workers at a much larger warehouse in New York City voted weeks ago to form the retailer’s first U.S. union.

The group active in New York, known as the Amazon Labor Union, is aiming to organize a second warehouse in the city’s borough of Staten Island, which workers will vote on later this month.

(Reporting by Jeffrey Dastin in Palo Alto, Calif.Editing by Chris Reese and Matthew Lewis)