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Amazon is arguing in a legal filing that the 88-year-old National Labor Relations Board is unconstitutional, echoing similar arguments made this year by Elon Musk’s SpaceX and the grocery store chain Trader Joe’s in disputes about workers’ rights and organizing. In its filing, Amazon denies many of the charges and asks for the complaint to be dismissed. Photos You Should See View All 33 ImagesSeth Goldstein, an attorney who represents both the Amazon Labor Union and the labor group Trader Joe’s United, said the trend was “very frightening.”“Since they can’t defeat successful union organizing, they now want to just destroy the whole process," he said. The lawsuit came a day after the labor agency accused the company of unlawfully firing employees who wrote an open letter critical of Musk and of creating the impression worker activities were being surveilled. At a January labor board hearing over allegations Trader Joe's retaliated against union activism, an attorney for the grocery chain said the NLRB and its panel of administrative law judges are structured unconstitutionally.

Persons: Elon Musk’s, —, Seth Goldstein, Joe's Organizations: National Labor Relations Board, Elon, Elon Musk’s SpaceX, Amazon, NLRB, Amazon Labor Union, SpaceX Locations: New York City, Seattle

☆ Amazon broke federal labor law by calling Staten Island union organizers 'thugs,' interrogating workers
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-01 | by ( Annie Palmer | In Annierpalmer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Senator Bernie Sanders, an Independent from Vermont, left, speaks next to Christian Smalls, founder of the Amazon Labor Union (ALU), during an ALU rally in the Staten Island borough of New York, U.S., on Sunday, April 24, 2022. Amazon and consultants for the company violated federal labor law by interrogating and threatening employees regarding their union activities, and racially disparaging organizers who were seeking to unionize a Staten Island warehouse, a National Labor Relations Board judge ruled. In April 2022, employees voted to join the Amazon Labor Union, a grassroots group of current and former workers, becoming the first unionized Amazon facility in the U.S. The judge in New York heard testimony from Amazon employees, managers and labor consultants in virtual hearings that went on for almost a year. Amazon continues to challenge the JFK8 election results, as well as the NLRB and the union's conduct during the drive.

Persons: Bernie Sanders, Christian Smalls, Judge Lauren Esposito, Esposito, Daequan Smith, Bradley Moss, Moss, Smith, Natalie Monarrez, Monarrez, Monarrez . Moss, Chris Smalls, David Zapolsky, Amazon's, Smalls Organizations: Amazon Labor Union, National Labor Relations, NLRB, Amazon, Huffington, Department of Labor, BHM1, Retail, Wholesale, Department Store Union Locations: Vermont, Staten Island, New York, U.S, JFK8, unionizing, Bessemer , Alabama, Monarrez

☆ Amazon gets labor board complaint on failure to bargain with NY union
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-13 | by ( Chandni Shah | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

July 13 (Reuters) - Amazon.com (AMZN.O) was hit with a complaint on Wednesday for refusing to bargain with a New York workers' union, a spokesperson for the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) said. Workers at the facility, located in the New York City borough of Staten Island, voted to join the Amazon Labor Union (ALU) last year, a first for the company in the United States. However, the e-commerce giant has challenged the results before the labor board, delaying any discussions with the union until the matter is resolved. The company's challenge has already been struck down once by the labor board in January. Amazon has faced dozens of complaints from workers and the ALU as the union attempts to organize warehouses across the country.

Persons: Chris Smalls, Shubham Kalia, Nivedita Bhattacharjee, Sohini Organizations: National Labor Relations Board, NLRB, Workers, New, Amazon Labor Union, Thomson Locations: New York, New York City, Staten Island, United States

☆ Amazon faces labor complaint over failure to bargain with union
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

July 12 (Reuters) - Amazon.com (AMZN.O) was hit with a complaint on Wednesday over allegedly refusing to bargain with a New York workers union, a spokesperson for the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) said. Amazon and the union did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Workers at Amazon's JFK8 fulfillment center in Staten Island voted to join the Amazon Labor Union (ALU) last year, a first for the company in the United States. Amazon is still challenging the results before a U.S. labor board and has yet to engage in bargaining with the union. The NLRB complaint comes as dozens of Amazon warehouse workers in New York sued the union on Monday, alleging that top union officials were refusing to hold democratic elections to fill leadership posts.

Persons: Chandni Shah, Shubham, Urvi Dugar, Nivedita Organizations: National Labor Relations Board, NLRB, Amazon, New, Amazon Labor Union, Thomson Locations: New York, New York City, Staten Island, United States, U.S, Bengaluru

☆ Amazon hit with labor complaint over failing to bargain with Staten Island union
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-12 | by ( Annie Palmer | In Annierpalmer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The National Labor Relations Board said Tuesday it found merit to charges that Amazon violated labor laws by refusing to bargain with a fledgling union representing employees at one of its New York warehouses. Workers at one of the retail giant's Staten Island warehouses, known as JFK8, voted last April to join the Amazon Labor Union, a grassroots organization started by current and former employees. The NLRB complaint comes as the ALU has faced setbacks since its landmark victory on Staten Island. The ALU lost two elections at other Amazon warehouses last year, and rifts have formed between some leaders and members of the union. On Monday, a group of former ALU members sued the union, accusing it of violating the ALU's constitution and asking a Brooklyn court to compel it to hold an election for union officers.

Organizations: National Labor Relations Board, Amazon Labor Union, Workers, Amazon, Democratic Reform Caucus, The New York Times Locations: New York, Brooklyn, Staten, Staten Island

☆ Some Amazon workers got a paid day off after reporting a possible bed bug in a delivery van
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Some Amazon workers got a full paid day off after they said they found a bed bug in a delivery van. The Amazon air hub in Northern Kentucky is at the center of a union organizing push. Some Amazon workers received a full paid day off on Monday after they claimed to have discovered a bed bug in one of the company's delivery vans at its largest air hub in Kentucky. Experts have since confirmed the insect in question was not a bed bug." It's not the first time Amazon workers have reported bed bug concerns.

Persons: Steven Kelley, Mary Kate Paradis, Northern Kentucky KCVG, they've, It's Organizations: Amazon, Guardian, Northern Kentucky KCVG, Amazon Labor Union Locations: Northern Kentucky, Kentucky, Staten, Texas

☆ Amazon Labor Union's vice president, Derrick Palmer, resigns after assault charges become public
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Katherine Long | Jack Newsham | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Amazon Labor Union vice president Derrick Palmer was charged with two counts of assault last year. The ALU has struggled with internal tensions after it led the first successful Amazon union drive. The union's president, Chris Smalls, was seen fighting another employee in December. Amazon Labor Union president Chris Smalls sent an email to the union members late Monday: "Dear Brothers & Sisters, Amazon Labor Union, Vice President Derrick Palmer has submitted his resignation as Vice President of ALU effective immediately. Due to the matter being before the court the Amazon Labor Union has no comment at this time."

☆ 10 Things in Tech: Uber wants to predict your habits, Apple and Google team up, and Lebron James eyes Complex Networks
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Diamond Naga Siu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

And minting it could be a solution to avert a major economic catastrophe (here's an explanation of the looming disaster, by the way). This average-looking coin could prevent job losses, steep cuts to retirement savings, and other major financial blows. Shopify employees and experts brace for shakeup. Multiple sources told Insider that his company, SpringHill Co., has internally discussed offering around $100 million to buy Complex from Buzzfeed. Google tells employees to limit publishing AI research.

☆ Amazon Labor Union's vice president faces criminal charges over allegations he choked his girlfriend
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Jack Newsham | Katherine Long | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Police bodycam video shows Derrick Palmer, the vice president of the Amazon Labor Union, admitting to strangling his girlfriend. The second-highest-ranking official in the Amazon Labor Union is facing felony charges over claims that he strangled his girlfriend last year, according to police records and body-cam video obtained by Insider. The charges against Palmer are the latest potentially damaging revelation about the leadership of the Amazon Labor Union, the only union to successfully organize an Amazon facility. Palmer, left, and Amazon Labor Union president Chris Smalls arrive at an Ebony magazine gala in October 2022. Historically, union officers removed under the law have been convicted of fraud, embezzlement, or extortion, Logan said.

Amazon delivery drivers at one of the company's California facilities joined the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the union said Monday, in a win for labor organizers that have long sought to gain a foothold at the e-retailer. "We want fair pay and safe jobs, to be able to provide food for our families," said Rajpal Singh, an Amazon delivery driver at the Palmdale facility, in a statement. Randy Korgan, director of the Teamsters' Amazon division, said the union is "coordinating nationwide" with Amazon workers. So far, only one Amazon warehouse in the U.S. has voted to join a union. WATCH: Amazon drivers describe pressures and pitfalls of delivering for a DSP

☆ Elon Musk dreams of Twitter's AI power
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Emilia David | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Elon Musk's personal AI ambitions. Elon Musk was one of the more prominent names on an open letter calling for a pause in AI development. My teammate Asia Martin points out that Musk's position on AI is contradicted by Twitter's investment in generative AI. Twitter's recent purchase of hardware normally used to develop generative AI products shows the extent of this ambition. Read more on Elon Musk's AI ambitions.

Amazon Labor Union's president, Chris Smalls, has registered a new nonprofit. Chris Smalls, the president of Amazon's labor union, has registered a new nonprofit, signaling that he may be turning his attention to projects beyond the unionizing effort that's turned him into a national labor figure. Smalls' leadership of the Amazon Labor Union has been called into question in recent months, amid stalled organizing momentum and election losses at two other facilities. In early December, Smalls was caught on camera fighting a former Amazon Labor Union organizer who had been threatening him after becoming particularly upset about Smalls' growing fame. Although the new group does intend to raise funds for the Amazon Labor Union, according to its certificate of incorporation, it also has bigger ambitions beyond Amazon.

☆ Amazon Union President Chris Smalls Seen Fighting Worker in Video
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Katherine Long | Jack Newsham | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +27 min

On the night of December 5, the president of the Amazon Labor Union pummeled another union member. Some longtime Amazon Labor Union organizers decided to begin organizing on their own, without Smalls. All three said they believe in Smalls' mission and support the goals of the Amazon Labor Union, but worry about Smalls' ability to lead. Amazon Labor Union members consoled each other after the union lost the vote at its second warehouse, LDJ5, last April. One purpose of the organization appears to be to raise funds for the Amazon Labor Union, according to its certificate of incorporation.

☆ A grassroots group took on Amazon and won. Then came the hard part
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-01 | by ( Catherine Thorbecke | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

Amazon still refuses to recognize the union or come to the bargaining table, dashing the Staten Island workers’ hopes of creating their first contract. Union organizer Christian Smalls (L) celebrates following the April 1, 2022, vote for the unionization of the Amazon Staten Island warehouse in New York. “I told Christian, ‘We have a problem, you need to stop traveling, you need to focus on the workers,’” Goodall told CNN. The company has claimed the independent federal agency tasked with overseeing union elections exerted “inappropriate and undue influence” with the Staten Island effort. An Amazon employee signs a labor union authorization for representation form outside the Amazon LDJ5 fulfillment center in the Staten Island borough of New York, on Monday, Feb. 7, 2022.

In a decision issued on Monday, Administrative Law Judge Benjamin Green said Amazon supervisors told workers that they would miss out on regularly scheduled raises and improved benefits if the company was forced into lengthy union negotiations. U.S. labor law prohibits employers from making threats or promises in order to discourage unionizing. Workers at Amazon's JFK8 fulfillment center in Staten Island voted to join the Amazon Labor Union (ALU) last April, a first for the company in the United States. Green said Amazon also violated federal labor law in 2021 by removing a post from an internal message board asking workers to sign a union-backed petition to make Juneteenth a paid holiday. Amazon has faced dozens of complaints from workers and the ALU as the union attempts to organize warehouses across the country.

☆ Amazon warehouse workers walk out in first UK strike
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Julia Horowitz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

London CNN —Amazon workers at a warehouse in central England went on strike Wednesday, the first time employees of the US tech giant have walked out in the country. Workers are asking for £15 ($18.49) an hour, which the GMB union said would be in line with pay at Amazon in the United States. Starting pay for warehouse workers in the United States averages over $19 an hour after the company’s latest raise in September. The strike comes as employees in the United States continue to organize and push for collective bargaining rights. Amazon has refused to formally recognize or bargain with the Amazon Labor Union, which was recently certified by regulators.

☆ Here are the companies that have laid off employees this year
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-21 | by ( Ramishah Maruf | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Tech firms went on a hiring spree. “Over the past two years we’ve seen periods of dramatic growth,” CEO Sundar Pichai said in an email to employees. The crypto brokerage announced in early January that it’s cutting 950 people – almost one in five employees in its workforce. Departments from human resources to the company’s Amazon (AMZN) Stores will be affected. They’re not in heavy people expansion mode every year,” CEO Andy Jassy said in a memo to employees.

☆ Union membership fell to record low in 2022, Bureau of Labor Statistics says
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Rebecca Shabad | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Amazon Labor Union interim president Chris Smalls celebrates the first union election win at an Amazon warehouse on April 1, 2022, in New York. Union membership in the U.S. dropped to the lowest since the federal government began collecting such data in 1983, according to a report released Thursday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The agency found that the union membership rate fell to 10.1% in 2022, down from 10.3% in 2021. he Bureau of Labor Statistics began measuring the union membership rate in 1983, when it was 20.1% and there were 17.7 million workers. According to the 2022 data, the highest union membership rate was among people who worked in protective service, in education, training and libraries.

☆ Amazon workers' union victory upheld by U.S. labor board director
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Jeffrey Dastin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Jan 11 (Reuters) - A U.S. labor board director has upheld Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) workers' landmark union victory at a warehouse in New York, according to a decision issued Wednesday, bringing the online retailer closer to having to bargain with staff on a contract. The Amazon Labor Union (ALU) celebrated the labor board director's decision. "This is a HUGE moment for the labor moment!" Workers in different facilities in New York state have rejected joining the union in two elections since, and Amazon filed objections to conduct during the original contest. The NLRB regional director overruled those objections on Wednesday, in line with an NLRB hearing officer's recommendations last year.

☆ Amazon union victory at Staten Island warehouse upheld by federal labor board
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Annie Palmer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Amazon workers arrive with paperwork to unionize at the NLRB office in Brooklyn, New York, October 25, 2021. A federal labor agency on Wednesday certified an independent union's landmark victory at Amazon 's Staten Island warehouse and threw out a litany of objections filed by the e-retailer. In April, a majority of the roughly 8,300 workers at Amazon's Staten Island warehouse, known as JFK8, voted to join the Amazon Labor Union, becoming the company's first unionized facility in the U.S. Amazon sought to overturn the results of the election, alleging the National Labor Relations Board office that oversaw the election interfered in the union drive. "As we've said since the beginning, we don't believe this election process was fair, legitimate, or representative of the majority of what our team wants," Nantel said. Workers at a nearby facility on Staten Island rejected unionization in May, and the ALU lost an election at an Albany warehouse in October.

☆ Amazon warehouse workers in UK vote to go on strike
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Catherine Thorbecke | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Amazon warehouse workers at a facility in the United Kingdom plan to go on strike, their union confirmed to CNN on Friday, in a move that’s being billed as a first for the company’s workers in the country. The GMB union, which represents workers in a range of industries in the UK, said that hundreds of Amazon workers at a warehouse in Coventry overwhelmingly voted for the strike, which is expected to take place in the new year. “On top of this, we’re pleased to have announced that full-time, part-time and seasonal frontline employees will receive an additional one-time special payment of up to £500 as an extra thank you.”The move from Amazon workers in the UK also comes as Amazon workers in the United States continue to organize and push for collective bargaining rights. Amazon workers at a warehouse in Staten Island, New York, made history earlier this year when they voted to form the first-ever labor union at one of the company’s US facilities. Despite the landmark victory for the worker group, known as the Amazon Labor Union, the company has yet to formally recognize the union or come to the bargaining table.

[1/3] Amazon Labour Union (ALU) organizer Christian Smalls speaks at an Amazon facility during a rally in Staten Island, New York City, U.S., April 24, 2022. Smalls in a lawsuit filed that year said he was targeted because of his race and his advocacy for the warehouse's largely non-white workforce. Smalls and other workers at the warehouse founded the Amazon Labor Union, which in April won the first U.S. union vote in Amazon's 27-year history. Workers at other Amazon warehouses in New York and Alabama have rejected unions. Several complaints were filed with the U.S. National Labor Relations Board claiming Amazon illegally retaliated against pro-union workers at the Staten Island warehouse, including Smalls.

☆ Are Unions Seeing the Start of a Movement—or Is it Just a Moment?
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Rick Wartzman | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

In April, organized labor claimed one of its biggest wins in years, if not in decades: Workers at a sprawling Amazon.com Inc. warehouse in Staten Island, N.Y., voted to unionize. But a month later, workers at another of the company’s facilities in Staten Island voted against being represented by the Amazon Labor Union. And in October, Amazon workers near Albany, N.Y., overwhelmingly rejected the union, as well.

☆ Amazon CEO explains thinking behind layoffs as unionized warehouse workers protest outside
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Catherine Thorbecke | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Amazon, more than most tech companies, experienced a staggering pandemic boom as more customers shifted their spending online during the health crisis. Despite the landmark union victory in April, Amazon has so far refused to formally recognize the grassroots worker group known as the Amazon Labor Union, or come to the bargaining table. The company has aggressively pushed back against the workers’ victory through the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Jassy also emphasized that the last two Amazon union elections held resulted in workers voting not to unionize, and that Amazon prefers to have a direct relationship with fulfillment center workers rather than going through unions. Labor activist Chris Smalls joins members of the Amazon labor union and others for a protest outside of the New York Times DealBook Summit as Amazon's CEO, Andy Jassy, will be appearing on November 30, 2022 in New York City.

Amazon fired Smalls in March 2020, saying he joined a protest at the Staten Island warehouse where he supervised other workers despite being on paid quarantine after he had close contact with someone diagnosed with COVID-19. Smalls in the lawsuit says he was targeted because of his race and his advocacy for the warehouse's largely non-white workforce. The 2nd Circuit judges on Tuesday said he failed to back up those claims, echoing a New York federal judge who dismissed the case last year. Smalls and other workers at the warehouse founded the Amazon Labor Union, which in April won the first U.S. union vote in Amazon's 27-year history. Smalls may have believed that Amazon's practices were racially motivated, Schwartz said, but "Amazon is not required to read his mind."

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