How Amazon Crushes Unions
In a secret settlement in Virginia, Amazon swore off threatening and intimidating workers. As the company confronts increased labor unrest, its tactics are under scrutiny.
Amazon’s warehouse in Chester, Va., where a union effort tried to organize about 30 facilities technicians in 2014 and 2015.Credit.Carlos Bernate for The New York Times
Published March 16, 2021Updated April 5, 2021
RICHMOND, Va. Five years ago, Amazon was compelled to post a “notice to employees” on the break-room walls of a warehouse in east-central Virginia.
The notice was printed simply, in just two colors, and crammed with words. But for any worker who bothered to look closely, it was a remarkable declaration. Amazon listed 22 forms of behavior it said it would disavow, each beginning in capital letters: “WE WILL NOT.”
January 23, 2021 Airline workers are grateful for the extension of a relief program that brought thousands of frontline aviation workers back on the job, IAM International President Robert Martinez Jr. said on a virtual call with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY). The IAM is North America’s largest airline union. Martinez led the call of IAM airline workers with Schumer, along with Transportation General Vice President Sito Pantoja and District 141 President and Directing Chair Mike Klemm. “Without this much needed relief, our airline membership faced dire economic consequences,” said Martinez. “Many didn’t know how they were going to pay their mortgage or rent and put food on the table.”