From The Verge: Employees working in Amazon’s new Staten Island fulfillment center have announced their intention to unionize, reports Bloomberg. Through a partnership with the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU), the employees said that they’re aiming to address numerous issues, including safety concerns, lengthy unpaid security checks, unreasonable hourly quotas, and insufficient breaks.
The unionization effort comes in the wake of Amazon’s recent HQ2 announcement, which will see it invest $2.5 billion in a major new campus in Queens, New York, over the next 15 years. Reports that the company received more than $2 billion in tax breaks have generated concern from local communities and lawmakers. Sentiment the union hopes to you use to its advantage.
The recent leak of a so-called anti-union training video from the company has also generated controversy. This video, which is used to train employees at fulfillment centers, encourages managers to look out for signs of organizing activities such as distributing petitions and fliers or showing an “unusual interest in policies, benefits, employee lists, or other company information.” Although the video draws the line at managers doing anything illegal, it encourages them to express personal opinions against unions such as, “Unions are lying, cheating rats.”
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