A 20-year-old Amazon worker is named Isaiah Thomas. He supports unionizing the warehouse. In a press conference Monday evening, he said that his employer had retaliated against him because of his support for collective bargaining efforts. The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union has filed unfair labor practice complaints with the National Labor Relations Board over the incident.
The union provided a picture of a letter that was sent to the worker by BHM1 Management. The company's solicitation policy states that activities may have occurred during your break time.
RWDSU believes that this action was in violation of the settlement agreement the employer recently executed with the NLRB. The agreement was reported late last month. The company or its agents were accused by the union of creating the impression that Mr. Thomas was being watched. The RWDSU states in its ULP that "Mr. Thomas observed the employer's agents circling his work area for no."
RWDSU described the letter as a "reprimand" in an email, but it's not clear if it's a formal write-up. We reached out to Amazon.
The news comes two days after the National Labor Relations Board ruled that Amazon had illegally fired another pro-union worker. The Board will issue a formal complaint against the company if that case doesn't go to settlement.
The first large Amazon facility in the US held a union vote. The vote was challenged on procedural grounds by RWDSU. The National Labor Relations Board found merit to the challenge and ruled that Amazon interfered with the unionization vote. The Board decided a new vote should be held. The ballot count will not begin until the end of March, but it will take place on February 4th.
The rate of employee attrition at Amazon is well known. Efforts to build a cohesive bargaining unit at BHM1 would be hampered by the speed at which it moves through workers. According to RWDSU, the current voter list at the facility has 6,143 people, just over half of which were present for the previous vote.
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