Amazon issued an apology for a couple of tweets from its corporate news account attacking Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Calif.) For criticizing the company’s work environment amid a major union drive at a business center. distribution in Alabama.
“This was a goal against, we are unhappy with this and we owe an apology to Mr Pocan,” said Amazon in a statement on Friday.
Pocan replied on Saturday morning.
“Sigh. It’s not about me, it’s about your employees – whom you don’t treat with sufficient respect or dignity,” he wrote.
Amazon has been battling a union campaign at a facility in Bessemer, Alabama, which threatens to boost union efforts in other parts of the country. The company raised its eyebrows last week for a series of strangely arrogant responses to politicians who tweeted about its workers and business practices.
It was a strategy that supposedly came from the top – Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos wanted his corporate communications team to respond more aggressively to allegations of unfair labor practices, according to Recode.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Among others, expressed strong support for pressure from Amazon workers for better conditions. Last Wednesday, Amazon executive Dave Clark welcomed the senator to the Alabama facility in a tweet sarcastically thanking him for his work on behalf of American workers.
“I usually say that we are the Bernie Sanders of employers, but that is not right because we are actually offering a progressive workplace,” said Clark.
It was Pocan who jumped to answer Clark. “Paying workers $ 15 / hour doesn’t make you a ‘progressive workplace’ when you break the union and make workers urinate in water bottles,” he tweeted.
Amazon News, an Amazon corporate Twitter account, responded to Pocan in a tone similar to Clark’s.
“You really don’t believe in this thing about peeing in bottles, do you? If that were true, no one would work for us, ”said the tweet.
In fact, it is well documented that Amazon workers are subject to strict and physically demanding protocols. Some workers say they sometimes take extreme measures to avoid interrupting their work, because too much “slack on the job” as Amazon calls breaks, can result in discipline.
It is less common for Amazon warehouse workers to take bathroom shortcuts, however, than for delivery drivers, who have difficulty finding public restrooms – especially during the coronavirus pandemic.
In its Friday statement, Amazon acknowledged that the tweet was wrong.
“It did not address our large driver population and instead erroneously focused only on our distribution centers,” explained the company, saying it is aware that delivery drivers are struggling to find toilets and promising to help find a solution to the problem. “whole sector” problem.
Amazon then differentiated its drivers from workers at the distribution center.
“A typical Amazon distribution center has dozens of bathrooms, and employees can move away from their workstation at any time. If any employee at a distribution center has a different experience, we encourage you to speak to your manager and we will work to fix it. “
Amazon’s apology to Pocan was published late on Friday, which can be interpreted as an effort to quietly disclose it. The company also kept silent about other Amazon News tweets targeting Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Which also proved to be one of Amazon’s biggest criticisms in Congress.
Amazon workers have already voted on unionization, but their votes are still being counted, according to AL.com. Nearly 6,000 ballots were sent. The results are expected next week.
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