Aug 30 (Reuters) - The National Labor Relations Board

has rejected Amazon's ( AMZN ) challenge to the first successful union

drive in its history, upholding a 2022 union victory in an

election at a New York City warehouse.

The board in a 2-1 decision released late Thursday said

Amazon ( AMZN ) had not raised any issues warranting review of a regional

director's ruling last year that certified the Amazon Labor

Union as the representative of roughly 8,300 workers at the

Staten Island warehouse known as JFK8.

NLRB Chair Lauren McFerran and Member David Prouty, both

Democrats, shot down Amazon's ( AMZN ) various claims that the election

was tainted by the conduct of workers, union agents, and NLRB

officials who oversaw it.

That included Amazon's ( AMZN ) argument that ALU President Christian

Smalls, a former employee at JFK8, intentionally trespassed on

company property so his arrest by police would disrupt

anti-union meetings and sway workers to vote for the union.

"Regardless of whether the (union) orchestrated Smalls'

arrest as part of its campaign strategy ... the arrest and the

circumstances surrounding it did not preclude voters from making

a free and uncoerced choice in the election," the board said.

Member Marvin Kaplan, the board's lone Republican, said in

dissent that the union's "aggressive and militant tactics"

including trespassing, vandalism, and threats of violence

interfered with the election and that a new vote should be held.

Amazon ( AMZN ) and the ALU did not immediately respond to requests

for comment.

Amazon ( AMZN ) cannot appeal the decision, but is pursuing a

separate challenge to the ALU's victory in an NLRB case accusing

the company of illegally refusing to bargain with the union. In

that case, the board's eventual ruling can be appealed to a

federal appeals court.

Since the JFK8 election, workers at two other Amazon ( AMZN )

warehouses in New York and one in Alabama have voted against

unionizing.

The ALU has also been embroiled in internal conflicts,

including a lawsuit by several members accusing a small group of

union officials led by Smalls of refusing to hold officer

elections, making changes to the union's bylaws without holding

a vote, and threatening critics with legal and disciplinary

action. The union denied wrongdoing but agreed to hold a

leadership vote, which took place last month.

ALU members in June voted to affiliate with the

International Brotherhood of Teamsters, a move that gives the

union more resources and stronger representation to negotiate

contracts.

Amazon ( AMZN ), meanwhile, has faced a series of NLRB complaints

alleging unlawful union-busting tactics including firing union

supporters, barring organizers from company property, and

holding mandatory meetings to discourage unionizing, which for

decades have generally been considered legal.

Amazon ( AMZN ) has denied breaking the law and said it respects its

employees' right to choose whether to join unions.

The case is Amazon.com Services LLC, National Labor

Relations Board, No. 29-RC-288020.

For Amazon ( AMZN ): Amber Rogers of Hunton Andrews Kurth

For the union: Eric Milner of Simon & Milner and Jeanne

Mirer of Julien Mirer Singla and Goldstein

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(Reporting by Daniel Wiessner in Albany, New York)