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STORY: A vote for Amazon workers to unionize in New York's Staten Island showed a strong lead in favor of the move on Thursday -- but the union narrowly lost a parallel contest in Alabama that has yet to be finalized.

A win in either state would be a landmark victory for labor advocates and a historic first for the retail giant, the second-largest private employer in the country.

Nearly 60% of the 2,700 votes counted at Amazon's Staten Island warehouse so far have been in favor of a union, according to a Reuters tally.

The former Amazon employee organizing the effort, Chris Smalls, says he hopes a union will bring about better working conditions for Amazon employees.

"Job security, higher wages, longer breaks, better benefits, all the things that you to provide, free college for their children as well."

Amazon has warned against unionizing in fierce campaigns with notices in bathroom stalls and mandatory meetings telling workers that labor groups could force them to strike.

In Bessemer, Alabama, organizers believe Amazon's actions may have affected their vote to unionize, with 53% of workers voting no.

But 416 challenged ballots remain, with the potential to change the result entirely.

The U.S. National Labor Relations Board said it will hold a hearing in the next few weeks to determine whether any of those ballots should be opened and counted.

Meanwhile, the president of the union organizing the Alabama effort, Stuart Applebaum, says the group plans to file objections to Amazon's conduct around the election.

“Their behavior has been shameful and at times we contend illegal, and we will continue to do everything we can to hold Amazon accountable, to fight back.”

The National Labor Relations Board determined that Amazon improperly interfered in Bessemer's original contest and called for a re-run this year, based off the union's previous objections.

Amazon did not immediately comment on the union's plans to object or on Thursday's vote counts.