Amazon’s attack on unionizing is nothing new. In recent years, the $1.76 trillion company has tried a whole host of union-busting tactics—everything from censoring workers’ internal communications to launching widespread (and creepy) anti-union propaganda campaigns to producing training videos embedded with anti-union messaging.
Amazon is now going one step further with its anti-union campaign. Amazon is now legally challenging the constitutionality of the National Labor Relations Board.
This past week, Amazon submitted a legal filing decrying the 88-year-old federal agency. The National Labor Relations Board is an independent federal agency, headquartered in Washington DC but with regional offices across the US. It is entrusted with enforcement of the National Labor Relations Act, which includes the right to unionize (and also the right to not participate in a labor union).
The NLRB has accused Amazon of retaliating against workers who tried to unionize two years ago. That case is currently before an administrative judge and in its filing denying wrongdoing, the company also included multiple accusations about the validity of the board itself.
The company takes issue with the agency’s structure. The Board itself has five members who are appointed by the President. Its Division of Judges hears cases of alleged unfair labor practices. Amazon’s filing objects to both the presidential appointments and the internal review of potential workplace violations. According to Amazon, the Board is depriving them of a right to a fair trial.
Amazon is not the only company trying out this new legal angle to discourage unionization. SpaceX, an Elon Musk company, and Trader Joe’s have also gone on the attack against the National Labor Relations Board. Seth Goldstein, a labor attorney representing striking workers at both Trader Joe’s and Amazon, has expressed concerns about the potential impact of these charges against the National Labor Relations Board, calling the trend “very frightening.”
Goldstein told the Associated Press, “Since they can’t defeat successful union organizing, they now want to just destroy the whole process.”
If these charges advance to the Supreme Court, they would be heard by the same conservative-majority body that tanked Roe v Wade. Support for unions is at an all-time high in the US, as Gen Z embraces the power of workplace organizing. However, all that energy for grassroots activism could be severely curtailed if Amazon and its ilk succeed in eroding federal protections on unionizing.
(via The AP, featured image: Emanuele Cremaschi/Getty Images)
Published: Feb 20, 2024 05:29 pm