Amazon has taken action against the first union in the United States

Wants to fight to establish the first union representation on the American online retailer board.

According to official documents filed Thursday in the Federal Labor Law Institute, Pat Amazon The end of March is high time to raise legitimate objections to voting in a camp in New York. The company alleges that unionists “intimidated” employees before the vote.

A majority of workers in the Staten Island camp voted to join the working group Amazon Workers Union (ALU) Tuned. This was a huge blow to the Amazon founders Jeff BezosThe company has successfully established union representation as one of the second largest employers since its inception in 1994 United States Was blocked.

What is the controversy?

Amazon accuses ALU of unfair practices. Union representatives sometimes “intimidated” employees and harassed them while they were in line. They “threatened immigrants” that they would lose their benefits if they did not vote for the union.

Eric Milner, a lawyer representing the union, said: “It’s absurd. “Workers spoke and their voices were heard.” Amazon management now wants to “delay the process of avoiding the unavoidable: negotiating the corporate deal.”

He accused the company of spending “millions” on intimidation campaigns. “Amazon held forced meetings, Amazon acted in a threatening manner, and illegally fired workers for trying to regulate Amazon,” he said.

The company has until Friday night to submit its objections and until April 22 to submit its evidence.

The union RWDSU implemented a referendum on employee representation at a warehouse in the US state of Alabama, meanwhile making similar allegations against the company.

He filed several complaints with the Department of Labor against Amazon. The group tried to confuse employees, influencing them through coercion and “fear of revenge”.

Amazon has not commented on the allegations against the AFP news agency.

Struggle in front of JFK8, the Amazon distribution center in Brooklyn, New York.Image: Keystone

In March, there was a postal vote among camp staff in the town of Bessemer. However, the results are still open: 993 workers voted against the union, 875 voted in favor – but there are still 416 “controversial” ballots that will be decided at an official hearing next week.

A poll was canceled a year ago after officials found it had violated Amazon rules.

(dsc / sda / afp)

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