Amazon ‘broke law in anti-union campaign’

NEW YORK

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A U.S. administrative judge has ruled that Amazon broke labor laws by threatening to withhold wage and benefits increases from employees at two New York warehouses if they voted to unionize.

The judge found that company officials had illegally suggested that unionized employees would have their pay frozen during labor talks while non-unionized employees would receive raises and new benefits.

He ordered Amazon to post signs in the warehouses reminding employees that they have the right to engage in collective bargaining and stating that the company would not make similar threats again.

The employees of the JFK8 site, located in the Staten Island borough of New York City, voted to join the Amazon Labor Union (ALU) in March 2022, marking the first time Amazon employees in the United States unionized.

The ALU then failed a few weeks later to convince the employees of the LDJ5 warehouse, located across the street, to also sign up.

Amazon challenged the ALU’s initial victory, filing objections with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

The NLRB rejected its arguments and validated the vote in early January, saying that Amazon must now “bargain in good faith.