A National Labor Relations Board judge ruled that Amazon had retaliated against workers in its Staten Island warehouse (known as JFK8) for their efforts towards forming a union. Furthermore, the judge also found that the "union avoidance" consultant the retailer hired had broken the law by making threatening statements about organizers and referring to them as "thugs." The employees of JFK8 voted to unionize in April of 2022. pickers over 'average Joe'
A National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) judge declared on Friday that Amazon and consultants for the company had violated federal labor law by interrogating and threatening employees with regard to their union activities, and making disparaging comments about the organizers looking to unionize an Amazon facility in Staten Island. Judge Lauren Esposito determined Amazon had committed multiple violations of federal labor law during the period from May to October 2021. This time saw an increase in organized labor activities.In April 2022, employees of the Staten Island facility voted to join the Amazon Labor Union, which is a group of current and former workers. Ever since securing that victory, they have been striving to reach a contract agreement with Amazon.Judge Esposito listened to testimony from Amazon personnel, supervisors, and labor consultants during virtual hearings that lasted nearly a year. It was determined Amazon had illegally seized organizing materials from employees who were distributing them in the breakrooms and carried out surveillance of their union-related activities.The NLRB judge also found that Amazon disobeyed labor laws when they sent home an employee from the nearby facility DYY6, Daequan Smith, and changed his job tasks as a form of retribution for supporting the union.Additionally, the judge discovered Amazon committed an infraction when a labor-aversion consultant, Bradley Moss, had been hired by the company, and he had threatened the employees by telling them it would be futile to vote to join the ALU.Amazon is obligated to post reminders of the employees' rights at the JFK8 and DYY6 sites in the wake of the ruling, and has to make good on Smith's loss of income and other benefits.During the hearing, Moss had discussed the union drive at another Amazon site in Bessemer, Alabama, with employee Natalie Monarrez. He denigrated it by saying it was just "a Black Lives Matter protest about social injustice."Moss went on to gesture at the front of the JFK8 warehouse and refer to the organizers as "a bunch of thugs." Moss and Amazon reps did not respond to a request for comment.Since April 2021, Amazon has faced 240 open or resolved labor law complaints spanning 26 states, which deal with assorted grievances, such as their behavior around union elections. Additionally, the firm's labor policies have been under severe scrutiny in recent times, particularly amid the pandemic when the organizing activities at their warehouses and delivery operations amplified.The NLRB has validated the election results from JFK8, which was held in January. However, Amazon is still contending this outcome, as well as the NLRB's and the union's behavior throughout the drive.
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