Amazon workers face ‘anti-union propaganda’ in Garner, North Carolina | Real Time Headlines

Italo Medelius-Marsano is a law student at Central University in North Carolina in 2022 Amazon Warehouses near Raleigh City earn some extra cash.

The past month is different from anyone else who has been with the company for three years. Now, when he showed up on the shift at the transport dock, Medelius-Marsano said he had met with the Flyers and urged him to “vote no”, as well as QR codes on the workstation An anti-union website. During the meeting, management discouraged unification.

The facility in the suburb of Garner, North Carolina, employed about 4,700 workers and is home to Amazon’s latest workforce showdown. On-site workers Voting this week Carolina Amazon Unity (CASIO) on whether to join the grassroots union consisting of current and former employees.

Because organizers set up the group in 2022 to raise wages and improve working conditions. Voted on the site Saturday, known as RDU1.

Workers at RDU1 and other facilities told CNBC that Amazon is increasingly using digital tools to block unions for employees. This includes sending message delivery through company applications and workstation computers. There are also automatic software and handheld package scanners Used to track employee performance in warehouses, so companies know when employees are working or doing other things.

“You can’t get rid of anti-union propaganda or surveillance because when you get into work, they have cameras all over the building,” said Medelius-Marsano, the organizer of the career. “You can’t go to work without scanning the badge or logging into the machine. That’s how they track you.”

Representatives also made suggestions to RDU1 employees. The union has set up a “reason” tent across the warehouse and paid for leaflets in the facility’s lounge.

Amazon is the second largest private employer in the United States and has long tried to keep unions out. This strategy succeeds in the United States Until 2022when workers at Staten Island warehouse voted to join the Amazon union. Last month, workers at a Whole Foods store in Philadelphia Vote to join United Food and Commercial Workers Alliance.

In December, Amazon delivery and warehouse workers at nine facilities continue strikeorganized by teammates, pushes the company to the bargaining table at the peak of the holiday shopping season. The strike ended on Christmas Eve.

In recent years, the coalition elections at other Amazon warehouses in New York ended in failure, while the Alabama union’s coalition driving results are competing. Organizers have pointed out Amazon’s near-constant monitoring of employees is both a catalyst and a deterrent to the union movement.

A spokesman said NLRB had 343 publicly or addressed allegations of unfair labor practices, and the agency filed unfair labor practices charges against Amazon, its subsidiary and delivery companies in the United States.

Amazon noted in its legal documents that it is unconstitutional to issue complaints against companies or unions determined to violate labor laws. Elon Musk’s SpaceX, Starbucks Trader Joe also made similar claims to challenge the institution’s authority.

Amazon spokeswoman Eileen Hards said the company’s employees have the option to join the union.

“We believe that both decisions should be equally protected, which is why we openly, frankly and respect these topics, actively share facts with employees so that they can use this information to make an informed The decision.”

Haz said the company has no retaliation for employees to conduct union activities and called on it to monitor its employees from blocking their unions “odd numbers.”

“The site is running, so employees are still expected to perform their usual jobs,” Hudders said in a statement. “In addition, the camera technology in our facilities is not about monitoring employees, but about helping guide the flow of goods,” Hudders said in a statement. and ensure the safety and security of employees and inventory.”

Orin Starn, a business organizer who was fired by Amazon for violating the company’s drug and alcohol policy, said Amazon’s employees track “labor algorithm management.” Starn is a professor of anthropology at Duke University, who began undercover work at RDU1 in 2023 to conduct research for an Amazon book.

“At 100 years ago, in a factory, you would have a supervisor to tell you if you were slacking off, and now in a modern warehouse like Amazon, you’re doing digital trajectories through the scanner,” Stahn said.

Other scholars also pay close attention to the issue. exist Research papers Northwestern University PhD candidate Teke Wiggin, published last week, explores Amazon’s use of algorithms and digital devices in the BHM1 warehouse of Bessemer, Alabama.

“The black box and lack of accountability brought by algorithmic management make it harder for workers or activists to determine whether they are receiving revenge,” Wiggin said in an interview. “Maybe their schedules have changed, and work is more than ever before It’s harder, the employer can say it has nothing to do with us, it’s just an algorithm. But we don’t know if the algorithm has changed.”

Some Amazon employees are different about the situation. Storm Smith works as a process assistant at RDU1, involving monitoring worker productivity and safety. In the process of reporting the story, Amazon referred Smith to CNBC.

Amazon’s workplace controls, such as rates and time breaks, are “part of the work.” Smith said. She added that staff “always welcome” to ask her how much it costs.

“For my people, if I see your speed is not what it should be, I will come to you and say, ‘Hey, this is your ratio, are you feeling okay? Your fees are high?

Wiggin interviewed 42 BHM1 employees after the first election in 2021 and reviewed NLRB hearing records. The facility employs more than 5,800 workers while driving in unions.

NLRB last November Order the third league vote It was held in BHM1 after Amazon was found to be improperly interfering in the first two elections. The company denies misconduct.

Amazon staff told Wikin that during the league campaign, the company adjusted some performance expectations for “improving working conditions” and blocked their union. One employee said the changes were part of the reason he voted against the union.

Workers at Amazon warehouse outside St. Louis, Missouri submitted one NLRB Complaint in May. Employees accuse Amazon of using “invasive algorithms” when trying to stop their organization Report. Employees withdrew their complaint Tuesday.

Amazon doesn’t need employees to meet specific productivity speeds or goals, Huss said.

Legislators have zeroed in on how surveillance affects organizational efforts in recent years. 2022, former NLRB General Counsel Release memo Calls on the group to address the use of “omnipresent surveillance and other algorithmic management tools” to undermine organizational work. The following year, the Biden administration proposed Request information Regarding automated worker monitoring and management, it is pointed out that the system can pose risks to employees, including “their right to form or join a union.”

But the Trump administration is trying to Clear NLRBThe president fired the group’s chairman on his first day of office last month. Trump has Put Musk in the notorious rival of the union, responsible for the so-called Ministry of Government Efficiency, with the aim of cutting government costs and cutting regulations.

Jennifer Bates, famous union organizer of BHM1 Amazon, who learned, fired her By Atoz in 2023. Recovered by Amazon “Her case was thoroughly reviewed,” Hudders said, and provided the backpack.

Retail, wholesale and department store unions try to represent BHM1 workers Already said The ATOZ app can access users’ GPS, photos, camera, microphone and WiFi connection information. The union also claims that “Amazon can sell the collected data to any third-party company and that data cannot be deleted.” The technology has caused some problems, including that it may suppress “organizational rights.” RWDSU said the technology has caused some problems, including that it may suppress “organizational rights.”

Hards said RWDSU’s claims were inaccurate and denied that the company sold any data related to Atoz’s use. ATOZ users must allow the app to access content like their GPS locations, she said.

In the Garner facility, Medelius-Marsano said, Atoz App announced “anti-union propaganda” since the RDU1 election last month.

One ATOZ news suggests that employees may be at risk if they vote through the alliance, while another describes it as an “outside party” that is “claiming themselves as a union.”

Kristen Tettemer, head of the RDU1 website, said in another message that groups like this “can hinder how we work together” and that “once you enter, it’s hard to delete a union.” Amazon’s reaction to Union Avenue is focused on “proposing facts and telling you to do research,” Smith said.

All of this constitutes an environment of intimidation, Medelius-Marsano said.

“There is no doubt,” Medelius-Marsano said. “If we lose, fear will be the cause.”

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