The New York warehouse of Amazon, which saw the birth of a first union in early April, is facing counterattacks from the e-commerce giant, with its still anti-union policy. According to employee testimonies collected by the New York Times in this Staten Island warehouse, Amazon is said to have fired six leaders of the Amazon Labor Union (ALU). The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) supports the ALU, which accuses the firm of using threats to dissuade employees from unionizing in a second warehouse.
Amazon is running a deterrence campaign
More than half a dozen senior executives involved in the creation of the ALU were reportedly fired by Amazon on Thursday May 5. This information comes from former and current employees who testified on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals. Some of these executives had worked at Amazon for more than six years. They were thanked as part of a ” organizational change “explain two employees.
Digital goods can no longer be purchased through Amazon’s Android app
In early May, a second Amazon warehouse in Staten Island failed to form its union. According to the leaders of the movement, this is explained by the smaller presence of union leaders at ten against thirty compared to the first warehouse. The ALU explained that it could not concentrate more effort in the creation of this new union, because it struggles in the two warehouses on Staten Island. Amazon is trying by all means to weaken the union already formed and wants to prevent the creation of the second.
The NLRB, the US labor rights agency, has found many of the union’s accusations against Amazon to be well-founded. Amazon allegedly violated labor laws by arranging a meeting with employees to persuade them not to unionize.
The NLRB urges workers to speak out against this type of corporate practice. The company allegedly threatened employees with dismissal if they voted to form a union. She also distributed flyers and launched a website to convince them. Amazon is experienced in union busting. In 2020, an investigation had revealed the extent of the surveillance of social movements in collaboration with the infamous security agency Pinkerton.
ALU demands better working conditions
Amazon employs more than a million people in the United States and has already proven that it cares little about working conditions. He was tried in 2021 for imposing productivity quotas and hiding that employees were forced to urinate in bottles. That the six Amazon executives were fired for their union involvement would not surprise anyone. The company claims the union prevents them from building trust and communicating with employees, stating, ” we don’t think unions are the best answer for our employees. Our goal remains to work directly with our teams to continue to make Amazon a great place to work. »
The ALU campaigns for an improvement in working conditions. The union wants longer breaks, paid time off for employees injured on the job, and a minimum wage of $30 an hour. For comparison, the average salary in Staten Island sits at $45 an hour.
Amazon replied that it had already made efforts in this direction. The company says it has invested in salaries and certain benefits such as health care, retirement savings and a university funding program to allow employees to continue their studies.
If the accusations of unfair dismissal by Amazon are true, there could be legal consequences. For its part, the e-commerce giant accuses the NLRB of having interfered in the vote which led to the creation of the first union. A hearing will be held at the end of May to verify the accusations made by the platform.