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