A look at Amazon's anti-union tactics
On Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos stepping down, labor unions, and environmental injustice
Happy Black History Month! Welcome to The Breaking Point, a weekly(ish) newsletter that explores the historical legacies of injustice based on the news cycle and culture trends to understand what in the world is going on.
Source: Wikimedia Commons
On Tuesday, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos sent a letter to his employees announcing that he will be stepping down as chief executive, handing over the helm to Andy Jassy, the company’s top cloud executive, in the third quarter. Bezos will, however, transition to executive chairman of Amazon’s board.
In his letter to Amazon employees, Bezos highlighted the role his company played in addressing “important social issues,” particularly climate change and raising the minimum wage to $15. Bezos also wrote ….
As much as I still tap dance into the office, I’m excited about this transition. Millions of customers depend on us for our services, and more than a million employees depend on us for their livelihoods. Being the CEO of Amazon is a deep responsibility, and it’s consuming. When you have a responsibility like that, it’s hard to put attention on anything else.
Yes, the retail-giant has garnered millions of customers since Bezos founded the company in 1994. But Amazon’s operations, which have a significantly huge environmental footprint, are powered by a mammoth labor force built on exploitation up and down the supply chain. In the last few years, there have been several reports detailing Amazon’s grueling work conditions. From long arduous working hours to timed bathroom breaks, current and former employees have voiced the abusive and toxic workplace that Amazon has built.
Against the backdrop of the news of Bezos stepping down from his throne, a much more pressing and concerning issue circulated the news cycle. At an Amazon warehouse in Alabama, the corporate-giant is aggressively doubling down on its anti-union tactics to block a movement to unionize its workers.
Amazon’s profits soared during the Covid-19 pandemic, despite a spate of concerns over workers safety. The company has adopted a number of safety measures such as taking temperatures, mask mandates, and contact tracing during the pandemic. In June last year, a friend of mine who works at an Amazon warehouse in Seattle posted a photo on her Instagram story of her wearing a high-tech, motion-sensor looking badge. She told me the badge turns red and beeps when someone comes near, and turns green when you’re 6 feet apart from them.
Despite these safety precautions, however, many warehouse workers have repeatedly criticized the company’s response to the pandemic. If Amazon’s work conditions were pernicious to begin with pre-pandemic, then how much worse has it been when the company’s sales boomed as more people stayed at home during the pandemic?
Figure of the week: 30
The percent rise of homicides in 2020, according to a recent survey of 34 of the biggest cities in the United States. “The two epochal events of 2020 — the coronavirus pandemic and the nationwide protests over police violence — were likely factors in the increase in slayings.” (Source: The Washington Post)
If the push to unionize workers at Amazon’s Bessemer, Alabama, warehouse is successful, it would be the first union at any Amazon warehouse in the United States. More than 2,000 workers at the warehouse — which opened in March 2020 during the onset of the pandemic — signed union authorization cards by the end of 2020.
This critical decision is soon up for a vote. Vote-counting for the ballots, which will be sent to roughly 5,800 Amazon employees, is scheduled for March 30, 2021. However, the company’s lawyers are trying to appeal against mail-in ballots and have requested the election be delayed. Amazon has also set up a campaign influencing workers to vote against the union through texts, anti-union meetings, and an anti-union website.
According to The Guardian, Amazon has been sending text messages saying that workers will “be giving up your right to speak for yourself” by signing a union authorization card or that “unions are a business, don’t let the union take your money for nothing,” talking about union dues.
Amazon has a history of belligerently blocking the formation of labor unions. If employees somehow raise complaints about discrimination or harassment, they put themselves at risk of losing their jobs. Some have indeed been terminated for speaking out.
Source: Wikimedia Commons
In 2018, Gizmodo obtained a video recording of what the outlet describes as a “45-minute union-busting training video produced by the company,” which was sent to team leaders of Whole Foods after rumors of union organizing. (Amazon bought the grocery chain for $13.7 billion back in 2017). Here are some quotes from the video, which was not fully published to protect their source:
“We do not believe unions are in the best interest of our customers, our shareholders, or most importantly, our associates. Our business model is built upon speed, innovation, and customer obsession—things that are generally not associated with union. When we lose sight of those critical focus areas we jeopardize everyone’s job security: yours, mine, and the associates’.”
Even after Amazon increased its company minimum wage to $15 an hour, the median wage for any US-based Amazon employee in 2018 was $35,096. Now, compare that to Jeff Bezos’ net worth which hit $194.9 billion, in large part of his shares of Amazon stock. For an Amazon employee making minimum wage to even afford one share of Amazon stock, they would need to work for 133 hours, NPR pointed out.
In response to the union drive in Alabama, this is what an Amazon spokesperson told The Guardian: “We respect our employees’ right to join or not join a labor union but we don’t believe this group represents the majority of our employees’ views. Our employees choose to work at Amazon because we offer some of the best jobs available everywhere we hire, and we encourage anyone to compare our overall pay, benefits, and workplace environment to any other company with similar jobs.”
The news of Bezos stepping down may have overshadowed this piece of news, but don’t let that distract you from the corporate-giant’s legacy of injustice still embedded in its work culture. Remember this the next time you hit that “checkout” button.
And as an environmental justice reporter, don’t even get me started on Amazon’s massive environmental footprint, which has left mostly communities of color inhaling dirty air from the heavy freight trucks that pass through their already polluted neighborhoods. I highly recommend reading this Grist piece by my friend, Justine Calma, on the severe environmental and health impacts Amazon caused in this California town.
Story breakers 📖
From Fort Mose to Soul City: Dashed Hopes for a Black Sanctuary by Brentin Mock, Bloomberg CityLab
Chicago’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout put polluted communities last by Adam Mahoney, Grist
Biden has condemned racism toward Asian Americans. It’s a start by Li Zhou, Vox
Fatal Police Shootings Of Unarmed Black People Reveal Troubling Patterns by Cheryl Thompson, NPR
In a stab at equity, L.A. hospital vaccinates older relatives of housekeeping staff by Brittny Mejia, Los Angeles Times
…. oh, and another one of Amazon’s epic fails?
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