Amazon’s Union-Busting – what you can do

Amazon.com, the poster-child of the ‘New Economy,’ has been trying to stop its workers from joining a union. In the past week, documents from an internal Amazon website were leaked to the New York Times, proving that Amazon has been pressuring its employees not to join unions. Amazon claimed that unions “actively foster distrust,” that they “create an uncooperative attitude” among employees, and that they “promote and thrive upon problems between supervisors and employees.”

Why has Amazon come out so strongly against unions? For one thing, they’re worried that a union could help their workers to get better pay and better working conditions. Amazon employees have been increasingly disgruntled by:

  • Unexpected layoffs – 150 permanent customer service employees at Amazon.com were given one hour’s notice before losing their jobs in January 2000.
  • Outsourcing of Amazon customer service jobs to low-wage economies (most notably, India).
  • The company’s insistence on paying wages partly in stock options. Since Amazon’s share price has lost almost 70% of its value since December 1999, most of its employees are holding worthless options.
  • The loss of benefits (including health benefits) in the past year – these have been withdrawn by management on the understanding that they were originally ‘perks’ rather than entitlements.


The e-commerce industry has consistently rejected unions and the principle of collective action on the part of employees. The Amazon anti-union drive is a crucial test case for the New Economy in general – and a vital battle to ensure that the traditional protections for workers in America are maintained in the 21st century.
 

What can you do?

  1. Read the New York Times article on the Amazon union-busting effort.
  2. Read our detailed account of the issues behind the struggle at Amazon
  3. Read the latest spin in an article by Drew Levy
  4. Check out the Amazon.com employees organizing website – this details their efforts to get a better deal, and explains why they think they need a union.
  5. Read the Amazon form-replies to complaints about union-busting here and the newer one here.
  6. Write to Amazon to complain about union-busting practices.

    7. mailto:feedback@amazon.com

    Things to stress in your letter:
     

    • It’s illegal for Amazon to harass employees who are interested in joining a union.
    • Amazon can’t engage in a “constructive dialogue” with its employees about unions

      • when it’s telling them that unions are categorically a bad thing, and when Amazon
      controls hiring and firing.
    • Unions play a constructive role in mediating between workers and management.

      • If Amazon’s doing a good job in providing competitive wages and reasonable
      working conditions, why is it worried about union activity?
    • As a consumer/Amazon customer, you’re not only concerned about getting the

      • cheapest prices for the things you buy, but ensuring that those prices aren’t
      maintained by exploitative labor practices.


    You can read a sample letter to Amazon here.
     
     
     
     

Last modified: Wednesday, 07-Feb-2001 00:04:49 EST