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  • Workers at Amazon’s Largest Air Hub, in Northern KY, Push for Unionization

    Workers at Amazon’s Largest Air Hub, in Northern KY, Push for Unionization

    Amazon’s unionization woes are increasing, with workers at the company’s largest air hub pushing to organize.

    Amazon has aggressively battled union organization efforts for years, even going so far as to deploy Pinkerton detectives to deter attempts. Despite its stance, support for unionization has been growing, and the company’s largest air hub outside of Cincinnati Northern Kentucky international airport is the latest site to experience significant union pressure.

    According to The Guardian, workers are displeased with annual pay raises, with at least 400 of them signing a petition to have a peak season premium hourly rate enacted. Amazon normally pays its warehouse workers more during the holiday season, when sales reach their yearly peak but has yet to implement it at the NKY site.

    Read more: Amazon Once Again Going Full-Press Against Unionization Efforts

    “We have to operate a lot of heavy machinery, freight loaders, cargo tractors and things like that, and people aren’t paid any extra to do that work,” said Griffin Ritze, an air associate and ramp agent, and one of the organizing members onsite. “They just cross-train you in as many roles as possible and you’re constantly shuffled around.”

    Workers have also complained that Amazon is not clearly communicating with them, including over things as serious as being written up.

    “We do not have any clue that we are written up and never notified about it until we go to apply for a better position, that’s when we’ll find out,” said Steven Kelley, a learning ambassador at the KY site.

    The employees ultimately make the point that Amazon depends on its warehouse and shipping workers as the lifeblood of the company and should therefore take better care of them.

    “We’re the lifeblood of the company, not corporate, not upper management. We’re actually the ones who are sorting the freight, and loading the freight,” said Jordan Martin, a ramp associate at the air hub. “It’s the lifeblood of the company, the workers, who are actually organizing this effort and why we’re pushing for the better benefits that we’re trying to fight for.”

  • Amazon Required to Email 1 M Employees About Their Right to Organize

    Amazon Required to Email 1 M Employees About Their Right to Organize

    Amazon has reached a settlement with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) requiring the company to email employees about organizing.

    Amazon has drawn ongoing criticism for how it deals with employee efforts to unionize. The company has hired Pinkerton detectives to keep tabs on unionization efforts, and has been accused of bullying workers and violating labor laws at an Alabama warehouse in the lead-up to a vote on unionization.

    According to Business Insider, Amazon has reached a settlement with the NLRB, and one of the stipulations is that it must email approximately 1 million employees to inform them of their right to organize.

    The Teamsters had already created a division specifically tasked with helping Amazon workers successfully unionize. With the NLRB settlement, the tide may finally be turning against the e-commerce giant and its efforts to fight unionization.

  • Amazon’s Italy Workers Go On Strike

    Amazon’s Italy Workers Go On Strike

    Amazon’s workers in Italy are going on a 24-hour strike to protest working conditions.

    Workers in several warehouse facilities, including in Tuscany, Florence and Pisa, are going on a 24-hour strike, the first to impact Amazon’s logistics operations in Italy on a national level, according to CNBC.

    The strike comes at a time when Amazon’s importance to the global supply chain is greater than ever, and while the company is facing increased scrutiny and criticism for how it treats its workers. The company has taken aggressive measures to combat unionization, hiring Pinkerton detectives to monitor efforts and going full-court press against unionization in Alabama.

    Salvatore Pellecchia, general secretary of trade union FIT-CISL, told CNBC that 75% of Amazon workers in Italy joined the strike, despite many of them being temporary workers, at the most risk of being replaced.

    “If Amazon does not change its position, we will be forced to organize another strike,” Pellecchia said in a statement. “Amazon has registered a huge increase in turnover and profits thanks to the pandemic, and now must talk with us to give its employee what they are waiting for.”

    The strike is the latest setback for the company, and may encourage other unions to do the same.

  • Investors Urging Amazon to Stop Pressuring Workers On Unionization

    Investors Urging Amazon to Stop Pressuring Workers On Unionization

    Investors are reportedly urging Amazon to stop pressuring workers amid the first-ever vote on unionization by the company’s workers.

    Amazon is notoriously anti-union, even going so far as to hire Pinkerton detectives to monitor and impede unionization efforts. The company has also been accused of illegally firing individuals who supported organizing. Most recently, Amazon has made waves with employees, pressuring workers in Bessemer, Alabama to vote against unionization.

    According to The Financial Times, via Bloomberg, some of Amazon’s investors have had enough, urging the company to stop interfering with unionization efforts. The group is made up of more than 70 investors, collectively holding some $20 billion of the company’s shares. The comptrollers for the state of New York and New York City, BMO Global Asset Management, Sweden-based Folksam and Ohman Fonder, as well as the Church of England Pensions Board are just a few of the investors in question.

    “As these workers seek to organize with [the union] for health, safety, and protection, Amazon’s investors are watching,” New York City comptroller Scott Stringer said, according to the FT. “There is power in their unity and power in labour, and they have my full support as they fight for a safe, fair workplace.”

    The investor backlash is just the latest setback Amazon has faced, due to its dealings with employees. The company recently settled a case with the FTC over stealing some $62 million in tips from its Flex drivers. If the company doesn’t make some major changes, it will likely continue to face fallout and backlash from employees, lawmakers and investors alike.

  • Amazon Goes Full-Court Press Against Alabama Warehouse Union Efforts

    Amazon Goes Full-Court Press Against Alabama Warehouse Union Efforts

    Amazon is pulling out all the stops in its efforts to dissuade Alabama warehouse workers from unionizing, even campaigning in the restroom.

    Workers at Amazon’s Bessemer, Alabama warehouse made headlines several weeks ago when the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) scheduled a vote for workers to decide on unionization. Amazon is notoriously anti-union, even hiring Pinkerton detectives to monitor and thwart efforts. The company has been accused of illegally firing individuals who advocated for better working conditions and supported organizing.

    Amazon is not letting up its anti-union efforts, according to The Washington Post, putting so much pressure on employees ahead of the vote that some feel they’re being harassed. The company is even putting fliers on the inside of bathroom stall doors with the message: “Where will your dues go?”

    “They got right in your face when you’re using the stall,” said Darryl Richardson, a pro-union worker. Another pro-union worker, who remained anonymous due to fear of retaliation, said: “I feel like I’m getting harassed.”

    Amazon is already on thin ice when it comes to employee relations. The company just settled for nearly $62 million for stealing tips from Flex drivers. It’s not hard to imaging the company’s full-court press in Bessemer backfiring, driving more employees to vote in favor of unionization. Should the vote pass, it will likely be the first of many, serving as a template for workers around the country.

  • Amazon Stiffs Drivers $62 Million in Tips

    Amazon Stiffs Drivers $62 Million in Tips

    The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has announced Amazon is settling to the tune of $61.7 million for tips it withheld from drivers.

    As part fo the Amazon Flex program, drivers were promised $18–25 per hour for making deliveries. In addition, ads recruiting Flex drivers routinely said: “You will receive 100% of the tips you earn while delivering with Amazon Flex.”

    Amazon also assured customers that any tips they gave would go straight to drivers. There’s only one problem: Amazon didn’t pay its drivers the tips from customers, pocketing nearly $62 million.

    “Rather than passing along 100 percent of customers’ tips to drivers, as it had promised to do, Amazon used the money itself,” said Daniel Kaufman, Acting Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “Our action today returns to drivers the tens of millions of dollars in tips that Amazon misappropriated, and requires Amazon to get drivers’ permission before changing its treatment of tips in the future.”

    “This theft did not go unnoticed by Amazon’s drivers, many of whom expressed anger and confusion to the company,” said FTC Commissioner Rohit Chopra. “But, rather than coming clean, Amazon took elaborate steps to mislead its drivers and conceal its theft, sending them canned responses that repeated the company’s lies. The complaint charges that Amazon executives chose not to alter the practice, instead viewing drivers’ complaints as a ‘PR risk,’ which they sought to contain through deception.”

    To make matters worse, in 2016, Amazon lowered the hourly rate they were paying drivers without notifying them. Instead, Amazon used the tips it had been withholding as a fund to maintain the $18-25 per hour rate, making drivers think they were receiving the same hourly rate.

    In essence, Amazon was ‘robbing Peter to pay Paul,’ stealing from drivers tips to cover for the fact that it had lowered drivers hourly rates without telling them. Amazon only stopped this behavior after it became aware of the FTC’s investigation in 2019.

    The $61.7 million settlement will be used by the FTC to compensate those drivers who were impacted. Amazon is also “prohibited from making any changes to how a driver’s tips are used as compensation without first obtaining the driver’s express informed consent.”

    For a company already accused of illegally firing workers for trying to organize unions, and using Pinkerton detectives to monitor workers and thwart unionization efforts, it’s little wonder that Amazon employees continue working to unionize.

    Amazon’s behavior in this matter is reprehensible, and represents a new low for corporate/worker relations.

  • Amazon Warehouse Workers Voting On Unionization

    Amazon Warehouse Workers Voting On Unionization

    Amazon warehouse workers are preparing to vote on whether to form the company’s first union.

    Amazon is famously opposed to its employees unionizing. The company has gone to extreme measures, even hiring Pinkerton detectives to monitor efforts. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) accused Amazon of threatening, suspending and terminating employees for trying to organize.

    It appears Amazon’s efforts have not been successful, however, as employees at the company’s warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama are moving forward with plans to vote on unionization. The NLRB has scheduled the vote for February 8 through March 29, and will involve approximately 6,000 employees.

    It remains to be seen if the vote will pass. If it does, however, it would be a big step forward for unionization efforts within one of the biggest companies in the US.

  • Amazon Using Pinkertons to Combat Unions, Spy on Workers

    Amazon Using Pinkertons to Combat Unions, Spy on Workers

    Amazon has a complicated relationship with its employees and the latest reports are not likely to help the situation.

    With an employee base closing in on 1.2 million, Amazon has been a source of reliable employment for many during the pandemic. At the same time, the company has often been criticized for its climate policies and for not doing enough to protect its workers from COVID.

    Now employees have another reason to be angry at the company, as a report from Motherboard shows the company has used Pinkerton detectives to counter unionization efforts, as well as monitor environmental and social groups.

    The documents show Amazon analysts closely monitor the labor and union-organizing activity of their workers throughout Europe, as well as environmentalist and social justice groups on Facebook and Instagram. They also indicate, and an Amazon spokesperson confirmed, that Amazon has hired Pinkerton operatives—from the notorious spy agency known for its union-busting activities—to gather intelligence on warehouse workers.

    At a time when Amazon is already under scrutiny, this latest revelation is not likely to do the company any favors.