Amazon intensified its anti-union efforts ahead of a union election at a warehouse later this month, according to reports. The LDJ5 facility is in Staten Island, New York, and the Amazon Labor Union says the company requires daily anti-union meetings there. The leader of the drive for organizing on the warehouse floor was disciplined for distributing anti-union literature. ALU says that Amazon has hired anti-union consultants to pose as employees.
The workers at the warehouse are going to vote on a union on April 25th. According to the report, the anti-union efforts of Amazon increased in recent days. The JFK8 facility became the first Amazon warehouse in the US to unionize after the ALU won an election. Amazon will appeal the union's victory.
In December, Amazon and the National Labor Relations Board reached a deal under which the company agreed to inform past and current warehouse workers in the US of their right to organize. The terms of the agreement gave workers more flexibility to organize in break rooms, which is said to have been a key factor in ALU's success at JFK8.
Amazon isn't following those terms at LDJ5. The ALU said the company took pro-union literature out of the break room after the JFK8 election result became clear. A lawyer for ALU workers has filed unfair labor practice charges against Amazon for removing the banner and retaliating against a worker.
Amazon has been contacted by Engadget.
Amazon has been accused of cracking down on workers trying to organize. It spent $4.3 million on anti-union consultants last year. The company is said to be working on a chat app for workers in which terms like union and pay raise are on a blocklist.
The company interfered in a union election in Alabama last year, and the National Labor Relations Board called for a rerun. The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union claimed that Amazon interfered in the second election. The result of that vote is dependent on a court hearing.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
