The National Labor Relations Board determined that Amazon illegally interrogated a warehouse worker who led colleagues on a strike during the company treatment of coronavirus pandemic, for a Monday report from the motherboard.
Amazon worker Jonathan Bailey led 13 workers on a strike of a company warehouse in the Queens neighborhood of New York on March 20, 2020, after a colleague tested positive for the virus and was sent home. This followed another strike at the same warehouse two days earlier, under similar circumstances, for which Bailey was also a major organizer.
After the two stoppages, Amazon sent an executive who presented himself as a former FBI employee to pull Bailey into a meeting and accuse him of practicing conduct that could be interpreted as harassing colleagues. The manager told Bailey that he would need to be notified before any subsequent actions, Motherboard reports:
The next day, a regional manager who introduced himself as a former FBI agent pulled Bailey into the administration offices and questioned Bailey about his role in the strike, told him that his behavior could be harassment and demanded that Bailey contact him before any future strike, according to Bailey’s NLRB testimony.
“He interrogated me for an hour and a half,” Bailey told Motherboard. “A week later, I was called to the office again and they reported me for harassment, saying that people were hurt by what I did.” The motherboard obtained an audio recording of that meeting.
Federal labor laws prohibit employers from retaliating against workers who try to unionize or who stage collective actions against unfair or dangerous conditions.
Bailey filed a complaint with the NLRB and reached an agreement with Amazon in documents dated March 3, 2021. The agreement resolved part of the issue, but the NLRB still issued a determination that Amazon had violated federal labor laws at least four times. Specific violations included ordering employees not to organize “without first notifying [them], ”Threatening to discipline organizers, and“[interrogating] employees about their participation, ”according to agency documents obtained by Motherboard.
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The NLRB rejected three other complaints against Amazon on the same subject, according to Motherboard. As a result of the agreement, Amazon will be required to put up pamphlets notifying warehouse employees that they will not be confronted or questioned about protected activities.
The motherboard previously reported to Amazon neglected to prepare for pandemic conditions, despite having a large corporate security division designed to monitor everything from pandemic threats to the conduct of workers and to labor and environmental movements. At the same time, workers were faced with pressure to work even harder Amazon deliveries increased due to blocking orders imposed to limit the spread of the virus. Internal Amazon documents obtained from the site back allegations by workers at Queens facilities that the company violated New York’s sick leave law by firing workers who did not show up for their shifts, as well as Amazon’s policy of having a few 12-hour shifts. Amazon also supposedly had they end up with supplies like hand sanitizer, sterilization wipes, disinfectant and water for employees who face “heat stress” at the company’s sweaty facilities.
“While we disagree with the allegations made in the case, we are pleased to leave this matter behind,” Amazon spokeswoman Leah Say told Motherboard. “The health and safety of our employees is our highest priority and we are proud to offer inclusive environments where employees can stand out without fear of retaliation, intimidation or harassment.”
“Amazon has fabricated false and unfair disciplinary measures to build false cases against workers who lead the fight to be treated as more than grain at Amazon’s profit factory,” said Amazonians United New York City, the group that organized the strikes, to the site. “We thank NLRB for dedicating countless hours and validating what we already knew to be true. Ultimately, it is our solidarity that protects us and will bring us a better world. “
Amazon, run by the richest man in the world, has long faced resistance from workers who say the company habitually disregards its health and safety in favor of profits, and the NLRB determined that the company illegally retaliated against workers who led strikes in Chicago and another worker on Staten Island who protested outside an installation from Amazon on your day off. The company was unable to close a union campaign in a Alabama warehouse where workers will vote to form a bargaining unit at the end of March, while employees at other facilities across the country are considering doing the same. President Joe Biden effectively endorsed Amazon’s union efforts this month, issuing a clear warning to company bosses that workers have the right to form a union without management interference.