As the historic union elections at Amazon in Alabama ramp up, Amazon is pulling all the tricks to stop the union.
In violation of Amazon’s social distance policy, Amazon has forced workers to attend anti-union rallies and send workers constant text messages daily, indicating that a union could potentially lead to the warehouse closing. . Amazon has even gotten local authorities to shorten the time of stoplights outside the factory so that union organizers cannot hand out union documentation, so union organizers cannot easily hand out union literature to workers passing in their cars.
Now Amazon is doing something that union observers have never seen before in union elections; they are offering $ 2,000 “layoff bonuses” to quit.
Last night, workers all over the factory received bonus emails for simply quitting their jobs. The emails offer employees who have been working for two peak seasons at least $ 2,000 to quit. If workers have been there for at least 3 peak seasons, they offer them $ 3,000.
Some Amazon employees, who don’t like their warehouse jobs, may find the bonuses a tempting bridge to quit their job and look for something better. The workers are even told that if they quit now, they can get their jobs back later after the union elections.
However, if employees quit now, they will not be eligible to vote in the ongoing union elections. In the meantime, many labor observers expect Amazon to seek replacements who will vote firmly against the union.
“That should be illegal, how can you pay someone to resign,” said 48-year-old Black Amazon worker Jennifer Bates. “They do everything they can, they pull out all the stops”.
Under federal labor law, the bonuses could be considered bribery and could lead to union elections being dropped. Employers are strictly prohibited from improving the material conditions of employees in the run-up to elections and the “severance pay” may be grounds for the union to petition the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) as RWDSU lose this round. .
“The NLRB routinely finds violations of the ‘granting of benefits’ to induce workers not to vote for unions during the” critical period “between filing for election and election,” said Mike Duff, employment law professor at the University of Wyoming. , former prosecutor of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).
However, the bonuses can backfire on Amazon. Some union supporters have used the offer of the bonuses to claim that Amazon could easily afford to pay employees more if the company wanted to.
“If you know they need it, why not give it to them as a bonus,” added Bates.
Union organizers are nervous, but despite the intimidation and anti-union tactics, they are not deterred in their struggle to form a union.
‘I think there is a wall in front of me now. And it’s because I can’t see what’s on the other side, ”Bates said of the union elections ending March 30. “And I think that very often in life you really have to take a step. Because just because you don’t see what’s on the other side doesn’t mean it isn’t victory ”.
Donate to help us cover Amazon’s historic union elections in Alabama