Posts tagged Amazon
Frozen feud: How Trump and the Supreme Court helped put historic Whole Foods union bid on ice
October 7, 2025 // When the NLRB will regain members depends on how quickly the Republican-led U.S. Senate moves to confirm two nominees picked by Trump in July, Boeing's chief labor counsel and an NLRB career staffer. A Senate committee is set to hold hearings on Trump's nominees on Wednesday. An NLRB spokesman did not respond to a request for comment about the delays. William Cowen, the board's acting general counsel, in an August press release addressing efforts in several states to pass new labor protections said the agency's work has "largely been unaffected" by the lack of quorum.
California to weigh in on private labor disputes if NLRB can’t
October 2, 2025 // AB 288 expands the state Public Employment Relations Board's powers over private sector labor disputes like unfair labor practice charges and enforcing collective bargaining agreements. Other blue states, including New York, are trying to expand their state labor agencies' powers over issues that would normally be decided under the National Labor Relations Act, citing Trump's antipathy to organized labor.
Amazon sues New York over union protections
September 24, 2025 // In a lawsuit filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in New York City, Amazon argues that a newly minted state law giving the New York State Public Employment Relations Board authority to oversee union elections and resolve unfair labor practice charges is an "unconstitutional power grab" that's preempted by federal labor laws. Amazon was seeking a temporary restraining order blocking the law, but U.S. District Court judge Eric R. Komitee rejected that request in an order issued late Tuesday, citing a lack of notice to defendants named in the lawsuit. Lawyers for Amazon said the New York law "flips U.S. labor law on its head" by giving the state's PERB jurisdiction over every private-sector employer "until the NLRB gets a court to hold otherwise."
Why a big bank and a big tech company are raising wages
September 18, 2025 // Everyone who works at Bank of America will soon make at least $25 an hour, the company announced Wednesday. Amazon is also raising pay for people who work in its fulfillment centers and in transportation to more than $23 an hour, on average, and paying for more of their health care costs. That adds up to around $50,000 a year for full-time employees.
Amazon Teamsters Face New Challenges in NYC
September 10, 2025 // “The Cemex decision does two key things: one, institutes a new modified…doctrine that facilitates card check recognition; and two, lowers the threshold for when the Board will issue a bargaining order without holding an election,,” the law firm said in the post. The Teamsters spokesman said the union has had successful card check actions at more than 20 DSPs But in February, NLRB Acting General Counsel William B. Cowen issued a memo withdrawing earlier guidance on several earlier legal opinions, including the Cemex decision. That would seem to shut off the NLRB–which currently does not have a quorum but is awaiting Senate confirmation of two White House nominees–from approving a card check filing as a means to gain union recognition by Amazon or any employer…unless a full Republican-majority NLRB rules Amazon is a joint employer with the DSPs.
Op-ed: Can Zohran Make NYC a Union Town Again?
September 9, 2025 // The new mayor could host big online unionization trainings with the Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee, as Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio Cortez have already done. If this led even a small fraction of Zohran’s 60,000-plus volunteers and over 6 million social media followers to start organizing their own workplaces—or to take a strategic job to unionize it—this could potentially generate thousands of new unionization campaigns. And were Mamdani to act upon our proposal to launch a broad Movement for an Affordable New York (MANY), then the pool of new potential workplace organizers would grow significantly.
Op-ed: A GOP-Teamsters Alliance Makes No Sense
August 24, 2025 // Republicans getting on board with these ideas aren’t just awkward—they’re incoherent. There’s little evidence that endorsements from Teamsters executives move the needle in general elections, for parties or for candidates. Can Republicans credibly argue that filling the Teamsters’ coffers (and campaign-donation kitty) will result in the sort of political realignment some hope for, or even a lasting political windfall? The only guaranteed outcome is more power for the Teamsters and other unions over U.S. labor relations. If these overtures to the Teamsters backfire, Republicans can’t say they weren’t warned. As one GOP politician running for Missouri attorney general tweeted in 2015, after labor-aligned Republicans derailed state right-to-work legislation, “time for an end to union-backed candidates in GOP.”
Unions ‘Wait and See’ on Elections as Trump Upends Labor Arena
August 20, 2025 // That political uncertainty, coupled with a volatile economy and labor market, could have workers second-guessing whether they’re ready to stick their necks out for collective action, the data show. College athlete employment, protections for political protests, and higher penalties for labor law violations are just some of the issues that worker advocates may want to steer away from a Republican board. The average number of newly certified unions per month dropped 22.3% between January and July this year, compared to the last six months of the Biden administration, according to data from the NLRB’s monthly election reports.
Amazon off-duty employees can use parking lots for union activity, NLRB judge rules
August 6, 2025 // In ruling against Amazon, the ALJ explained that NLRB has long held employers may not bar off-duty employees from outside nonworking areas, including parking lots. Amazon violated Section 8(a)1 of the NLRA when it tried to do this to keep off-duty employees from engaging in protected activity, the judge held. Amazon also violated Section 8(a)1 when it called the police to further bar protected activity, the ALJ said.
Nationwide Lowe’s Boycott Planned for August 1: What to Know
July 31, 2025 // Progressive groups have spearheaded the action and expressed concerns over a number of issues, including company tax avoidance and workers' rights, as well as the scaling-back of diversity hiring commitments.