Posts tagged Amazon
Amazon and Elon Musk’s SpaceX challenge labor agency’s constitutionality in federal court
November 20, 2024 // Attorneys for Amazon and Elon Musk’s SpaceX argued in a federal appeals court Monday that the National Labor Relations Board’s structure is unconstitutional, advancing a legal fight that may last into the Trump administration where Musk is expected to oversee bureaucratic cost-cutting. A panel of three judges at the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans heard separate oral arguments in the SpaceX and Amazon lawsuits, which the two companies initiated after the labor agency filed complaints against them in disputes about workers’ rights and union organizing.
NLRB Seeks to Cancel Debate on Unionization
November 15, 2024 // Dissenting Board Member Marvin Kaplan, however, points out that the NLRA “favor[s] uninhibited, robust, and wide-open debate in labor disputes,” and the Supreme Court, Congress, and the Board have all recognized the legality of employer speech rights during organizing campaigns, including the use of captive audience meetings. Kaplan highlights that past efforts by the Board to restrict non-coercive speech by employers have routinely failed.
Democrats make last stand for unions ahead of Trump administration
November 15, 2024 // In a final push to bolster union rights ahead of a Trump presidency, the National Labor Relations Board on Wednesday banned employers nationwide from forcing workers to attend antiunion meetings. Separately, Democrats are also deploying a last-ditch effort to try to get the Senate to reconfirm NLRB Chair Lauren McFerran in the last December session, allowing the agency to maintain a Democratic majority and continue its labor-friendly rulings into the next Trump administration.
US labor board bans mandatory anti-union meetings in ruling against Amazon
November 13, 2024 // The decision could also be overturned by the board when it gains a Republican majority, as the agency often reverses itself after changes in leadership. President-elect Donald Trump could have a Republican-led board in place as soon as next year. At least 10 U.S. states including New York, California, and most recently Alaska have banned captive audience meetings or prohibited employers from disciplining workers who do not attend them. The NLRB said its decision would only be applied moving forward and not to pending cases.
Teamsters Test the Bounds of the NLRB’s Cemex Decision, Seeking to Unionize Amazon Workers Without an Election
November 13, 2024 // Teamsters allege that Amazon’s failure to voluntarily recognize the union or timely file an RM Petition warrants the issuance of a bargaining order requiring Amazon to bargain with the union. Although the procedure employed by Teamsters permits the union to bypass procedural steps in order to quickly gain recognition and begin bargaining, Amazon’s willingness to litigate in order to prevent the organization of its facilities makes it unlikely that Teamsters will be at the bargaining table anytime soon.
COMMENTARY: US Postal Workers Are Fighting Massive Service Cuts
November 11, 2024 // Thousands of US Postal Service jobs are at stake under Postmaster General Louis DeJoy’s modernization plan, which would close 200 mail processing plants and funnel all mail to 60 mega-plants. Postal workers are organizing to stop the plan.
Amazon ordered to let workers vote on unionizing — for the 3rd time
November 7, 2024 // Amazon says it plans to appeal the ruling. "This decision is wrong on the facts and the law," Spokesperson Mary Kate Paradis said in a statement. She criticized the labor board and the union for "trying to force a third vote instead of accepting the facts and the will of our team members."
A Doc On How Amazon Workers Unionized Drew Critics’ Praise, But No Major Takers to Distribute
October 23, 2024 // The plan the group has put in place is unabashedly pro-union; it’s unclear if it ever would have been greenlit by a major entertainment company. The film will screen once or a few times in cities chosen because of partners on the ground (in Detroit, for instance, the screening is sponsored the Metro-Detroit Coalition of Labor Union Women and several University of Michigan programs) and/or because these cities are in proximity to Amazon warehouses. Several of these screenings include post-film Q&As, such as in Columbia, Missouri, where the discussion will focus on local cannabis workers’ push to unionize. The filmmakers are offering reduced ticket prices to labor partners and union members in most markets. The strategy is “tied to where the impact was strongest,” says Tuckman.
Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su Criticizes Donald Trump’s Labor Record at IOP
October 22, 2024 // Though Su declined to address the former president by name, she argued that “hypothetically,” opposition to overtime pay, sexual harassment, and support for Elon Musk are incompatible with a “pro-worker” position. “I don’t care how many McDonald’s drive-throughs you pretend to work at,” Su said, referencing Trump’s Sunday visit to a Philadelphia McDonald’s where he served fries and answered questions through the drive-through window. Su was joined by Sara Nelson, the president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, AFL-CIO to discuss the future of the American Labor Movement. Brett Story and Stephen Maing, directors of “UNION”— a documentary film that followed the unionization of Amazon workers in Staten Island, New York — were also on the panel.
Commentary: The NLRB’s “Laboratory Conditions” Are Overdue for Inspection
October 7, 2024 // In several lines of precedent since the passage of the 1947 Taft-Hartley amendments, courts have ignored or glossed over this textual problem and have allowed the NLRB to police campaign misconduct quite closely. Most relevant here is the doctrine first announced in General Shoe Corporation. The Shoe Workers Union objected to its election loss at a plant in Pulaski, Tennessee, and charged the employer with co-extensive unfair labor practices. The employer’s president was shown to have lectured employees personally about their union support. Finding that no unfair labor practice had been proven, the Board nevertheless set aside the Union’s loss,