11-20-2024
Employees filed an NLRB complaint about Amazon’s 2022 conduct before a successful union election on Staten Island. It was the first Amazon warehouse to unionize. The company purportedly held hundreds of mandatory meetings with workers to discourage them from voting in favor of a union. Many large employers facing potential union campaigns have held similar kinds of meetings, including Starbucks, Trader Joe’s, and REI.
The NRLB ruled 3 to 1 (along party lines) that employers cannot require employees to attend meetings where employers share their perspectives on the negative aspects of worker organizing. Labor organizers see these “captive audience” meetings as an effort to quash the unions. The NLRB’s Democratic chairperson says the meetings give employers “near-unfettered freedom to force their message about unionization on workers.” Workers may feel afraid to choose union representation, a right given to them under the NLRA. Employers can share their views through “noncoercive” means, according to the chairperson. A Teamsters’ spokesperson applauded the decision as “long overdue” and hopes employers redirect their union-busting funds to better wages for workers.
Employers generally deny that they are suppressing their employees’ ability to choose. Amazon intends to appeal the NLRB’s decision. The company spokesperson said it violates Amazon’s First Amendment right to free speech and contradicts the NLRA’s express language. From the company’s viewpoint, “the decision about whether or not to join a union is an important one, and employees deserve to understand the facts so they can make an informed choice.” With a new presidential administration looming, it is unclear whether this NLRB decision will survive.