Dear Friend,

Amazon’s anti-union intimidation tactics are undermining workers' rights.

After being subjected to “captive audience meetings,” a barrage of text
messages from management, and other underhanded techniques, Amazon is
claiming victory over attempts by warehouse employees in Bessemer,
Alabama, to unionize.^1,2

If workers are to be allowed to freely organize, the Senate must pass the
Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act and help workers take on
companies like Amazon when they undermine the right to form a union.
Demand Progress is helping members send more than a hundred thousand of
letters to the Senate urging them to end the filibuster so Congress can
pass the PRO Act and other pro-worker legislation, and we’re continuing to
take on corporate power at every level.

[ [link removed] ]Will you donate to Demand Progress to help end the filibuster and pass
the PRO Act to continue the fight for workers’ rights?

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Union members have filed complaints with the National Labor Relations
Board regarding Amazon’s intimidation tactics in the Bessemer election.^3
The PRO Act would provide workers with a huge boost as they take on
corporate power.

Amazon is already known for its intense surveillance of employees, using
tracking systems, cameras, and automated tools to monitor every step they
take.^4 During the union election, the mega corporation constantly invaded
workers’ privacy and pummeled them with reminders to vote “no.”

The corporation worked with the U.S. Postal Service to install a ballot
box on warehouse property and misled employees into believing they could
only submit their votes there, where management would be watching. Amazon
had non-eligible employees walk the warehouse floor wearing “Vote No”
pins, which voting workers would see throughout the day. Workers were
texted anti-union messages several times a day. Even bathroom stalls were
papered with “Vote No” flyers.^5

Amazon even had the county's department of transportation change a traffic
signal outside the warehouse, making it more difficult for pro-union
workers to canvass.^6

These anti-union tactics aren’t new—more than 40% of employers of
workforces that have tried to unionize are charged with interfering with
those campaigns.^7 But Amazon has nearly unlimited funds to fight union
efforts. The PRO Act can help stop these tactics and level the playing
field for workers.

We must help protect not only Amazon employees' union efforts, but
collective bargaining in general. Since 1979, the number of employees
protected by a union in the U.S. has fallen by nearly two-thirds, and
economists estimate that workers lose about $200 billion a year in wages
as a result. The lack of unions is directly correlated with wage
inequality, and it’s only getting worse.^8

The PRO Act would forbid corporate interference in union elections and
overrides anti-union state laws, and the Senate must end the filibuster so
they can pass the PRO Act and help workers right away. Will you donate to
help Demand Progress fight corporate power?

[ [link removed] ]Yes, I’ll donate today.

Thanks for standing with us.

Robert Cruickshank,
Demand Progress

[ [link removed] ]DONATE

Sources:

1. Salon, "Senate Dems could help the next Amazon union effort win: Nuke
the filibuster, then pass the PRO Act," [ [link removed] ]April 10, 2021
2. The New York Times, "Amazon Workers Vote Down Union Drive at Alabama
Warehouse," [ [link removed] ]April 9, 2021
3. Tech Crunch, "Amazon defeats warehouse union push, RWDSU challenges
results," [ [link removed] ]April 9, 2021
4. Mashable, "Amazon announces new employee tracking tech, and customers
are lining up," [ [link removed] ]December 1, 2020
5. Salon, "Senate Dems could help the next Amazon union effort win: Nuke
the filibuster, then pass the PRO Act," [ [link removed] ]April 10, 2021
6. The Verge, "Amazon changed traffic light timing during union drive,
county officials say," [ [link removed] ]February 17, 2021
7. Economic Policy Institute, "Unlawful," [ [link removed] ]December 11, 2019
8. Economic Policy Institute, "Weakened labor movement leads to rising
economic inequality," [ [link removed] ]January 27, 2020
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