Amazon reached a nationwide settlement with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) late Wednesday, making it easier for Amazon employees to form a union.
The agreement obligates Amazon to email its warehouse workers of their legal rights to organize, as well as post notices of workers’ rights in multiple visible places throughout its facilities, such as fulfillment centers. Amazon must also inform workers that it can’t legally retaliate against workers for organizing on company property.
“This settlement agreement provides a crucial commitment from Amazon to millions of its workers across the United States that it will not interfere with their right to act collectively to improve their workplace by forming a union or taking other collective action,” Jennifer Abruzzo, general counsel for the NLRB, told The Wall Street Journal.
People hold placards during a protest in support of Amazon workers in Union Square, New York on February 20, 2021. – (Photo by KENA BETANCUR/AFP via Getty Images)
The settlement provides avenues for the NLRB to discipline Amazon should it violate the terms of the agreement. It follows several failed unionization efforts by Amazon workers across the country. (RELATED: Bill Taking Aim At Amazon Warehouse Production Quotas Passes California Senate)
Employees attempting to organize at a warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama, lost a unionization vote in April, later alleging that Amazon threatened workers with termination and loss of healthcare benefits if they unionized. The employees filed charges with the NLRB to re-do the vote.
Workers at several Amazon facilities in Staten Island, New York, also attempted to unionize, but withdrew their petition with the NLRB as they lacked the requisite signatures. The workers announced Thursday they would be re-filing their petition.
Amazon did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.