Labor officials have found merit in claims that Amazon illegally threatened workers during a warehouse’s union drive in Staten Island, New York, confirming allegations that the company made threats to withhold benefits from union workers during captive audience meetings.
As first reported by BloombergOfficials of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), were informed Amazon Labor Union (ALU)After the union brought a series of illegal union-busting claims against labor officials, the NLRB was notified of its findings. A spokesperson for NLRB stated that they are prepared to issue a formal notice about the alleged violations if the company doesn’t settle. Agency judges are able to accept complaints from labor prosecutors.
The agency’s Brooklyn-based regional director found that Amazon had illegally threatened to withhold benefits and cut workers’ wages to the local minimum wage during mandatory anti-union meetings prior to the vote at the company’s JFK8 warehouse, which voted to form the company’s first-ever union last month.
Labor officials also found that the company implied that workers’ grievances with their working conditions could be resolved if they voted against unionizing, according to labor reporter Steven Greenhouse.
Amazon told workers that it may take years for the company to agree to a contract with unionized workers — or that they may never get a contract at all, despite the company’s federal mandate to bargain for a contractWith workers. According to the spokesperson for the NLRB, although contract negotiations are ongoing, the company threatened that workers would not receive improvements in their working conditions.
It is illegal for companies and unions to threaten workers with withholding wages or benefits. The company, which has filed to challenge New York workers’ union victory, has denied wrongdoing.
The NLRB discovered this earlier in the month. that the captive audience meetings held by the company during the JFK8 union drive were illegal, and officials said they’d issue a complaint if the company doesn’t agree to a settlement. Jennifer Abruzzo, NLRB general counsel, has been leading agency in a recent push to declare all mandatory anti-union meetings “inherently” illegal.
These findings are the latest in a series of allegations made by the laborboard that Amazon engaged in illegal conduct during recent union drives. In JanuaryThe labor board filed a complaint against Amazon accusing it of illegally monitoring and threatening workers during JFK8.
“We just hope that Amazon is held accountable,” Amazon Labor Union president Christian Smalls said at the time. “We hope that other union-busters as well learn their lesson and that workers are encouraged to speak up.”
Amazon’s recent union-busting moves have been under increased scrutiny by politicians. Recently, President Joe Biden was joined by Marty Walsh, Labor Secretary. met withStarbucks donated small-sized and union organizers to support their efforts against aggressive anti-union campaigns. “Chris Smalls is making good trouble and helping inspire a new movement of labor organizing across the country,” the president wrote on TwitterAfter the meeting.
