ALABAMA – As the historic union election at Amazon in Alabama heats up, Amazon is pulling out all the tricks to stop the union.
In violation of Amazon’s social distancing policy, Amazon has forced workers to attend anti-union meetings and sent workers constant text messages daily, hinting that a union could possibly lead to the warehouse closing.
Amazon has even gotten the local authorities to shorten the times of stoplights outside of the plant so union organizers can’t hand out pro-union literature easily to workers passing in their cars.
OFFERING BONUSES (BRIBES) TO QUIT
Now, Amazon is doing something that Labor observers have never seen before in a union election – offering workers $2,000 “resignation bonuses” to quit.
Last week, workers throughout the plant received emails offering them bonuses to quit their jobs. The emails offer workers who have worked for two seasons at least $2,000 to quit. If workers have been there at least three peak seasons, they are being offered $3,000.
Some Amazon workers who dislike their jobs at the warehouse may find the bonuses a tempting bridge to quit their jobs and seek something better. Workers are even being told that if they quit now, they could regain their jobs later. However, if workers quit now, they won’t be eligible to vote on the ongoing union election.
“That should be illegal. How can you pay someone to resign?” said Jennifer Bates, 48, an Amazon worker. “They are going all the way. They are pulling out all the stops.”
A BRIBE UNDER LABOR LAW
Under federal Labor law, the bonuses could be considered bribes and lead to the union election being thrown out. Employers are strictly forbidden from improving the material conditions of workers in the lead up to elections and the “resignation bonuses” could be grounds for the union to petition the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to order a new union election if the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) loses this round.
“The NLRB routinely finds violations for ‘conferring benefits’ to induce employees not to vote for a union during the ‘critical period’ between the time the election petition is filed and the election is held,” said University of Wyoming Labor Law Professor Mike Duff, a former prosecutor for the NLRB.
However, the bonuses could backfire on Amazon. Some union supporters have used the offer of the bonuses to argue that Amazon could easily afford to pay workers more.
“If you know that they need it, why don’t you give it to them anyway as a bonus?” Bates asked.
Union organizers are nervous, but despite the intimidation and anti-union tactics, they aren’t deterred in their fight to unionize.
“I think there is this wall in front of me right now. And it’s because I can’t see what’s on the other side,” Bates said of the union election set to end on March 30. “And I think a lot of times in life, that’s when you really have to take a step. Just because you don’t see what’s on the other side doesn’t mean that’s not victory.”
