SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) – United States (US) labour authorities have filed a complaint accusing e-commerce giant Amazon of using threats and surveillance against its workers trying to organise a union at a New York City warehouse.
Amazon allegedly grilled workers about union activities at the Staten Island site, promising to address grievances in exchange for voting against representation, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) argued in its complaint filed on Thursday.
At stake is whether the workers might be the first to unionise an Amazon warehouse in the US.
NLRB’s complaint alleges the company “repeatedly broke the law by threatening, surveilling, and interrogating their Staten Island warehouse workers who are engaged in a union organising campaign”.
The board asked a judge, with a hearing set for April 5, to order Amazon to educate workers as well as managers about employee rights when it comes to unionising.
