Yazılar

Amazon Ordered to Negotiate with Staten Island Union

/in /tarafından

Amazon has been ordered to negotiate with a labor union representing about 5,000 workers at its Staten Island warehouse, following a ruling by the National Labor Relations Board.

The decision requires Amazon to engage with the Amazon Labor Union, which formed in 2022 and has been pushing for discussions on wages, working conditions and employee rights. The union has since aligned with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.

The NLRB found that Amazon committed unfair labor practices by refusing to recognize and bargain with the union. The ruling marks a significant development in ongoing efforts to organize workers at the company’s U.S. facilities.

Amazon said it disagrees with the decision and plans to appeal, arguing that the union election process was improperly influenced. An appeal could delay enforcement of the order while the case moves through the courts.

Labor groups have welcomed the ruling as a major milestone, signaling growing momentum for unionization efforts within Amazon’s workforce, which the company has historically resisted.

The case also ties into a broader legal dispute, as Amazon has challenged the constitutionality of the NLRB itself in related proceedings.

Amazon sues New York over new labor law, calling it unconstitutional power grab

/in /tarafından

Amazon has filed a lawsuit against the New York State Public Employment Relations Board (PERB), seeking to block enforcement of a new state law that it argues illegally intrudes on federal authority over private sector labor disputes.

The law, Senate Bill 8034A, was signed by Governor Kathy Hochul on September 5. She defended it as necessary to protect workers amid a backlog at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), which has been paralyzed since President Donald Trump removed Democratic member Gwynne Wilcox in January, leaving the agency without a quorum.

Amazon’s complaint, filed in Brooklyn federal court, claims the law is unconstitutional because it allows PERB to claim jurisdiction over union organizing, collective bargaining, and workplace disputes—areas traditionally overseen by the NLRB. “New York has created the collision of state and federal authority Congress sought to avoid,” Amazon said in the filing.

The conflict became immediate when PERB filed a charge over the August 9 firing of Brima Sylla, a Staten Island warehouse worker and union vice president, even as the NLRB had already begun its own review.

The NLRB itself sued New York on September 12, also seeking to block enforcement of the law, with Acting General Counsel William Cowen arguing that federal law preempts state measures regardless of the board’s quorum status.

With 1.56 million employees worldwide, Amazon has been a frequent flashpoint in labor disputes. The case could set an important precedent for whether states can temporarily step into labor oversight roles when the NLRB is gridlocked.

US Labor Agency Says Google Must Bargain with Contractor’s Union

/in /tarafından

Alphabet’s Google is facing a second complaint from the U.S. National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), which claims that the tech giant is a “joint employer” of contract workers and must bargain with their union. This complaint, issued last week, pertains to a group of about 50 San Francisco-based content creation workers employed by IT firm Accenture Flex. These workers voted to join the Alphabet Workers Union in 2023.

The NLRB’s claim hinges on the idea that Google shares enough control over these workers’ terms and conditions to be considered their joint employer. This would require Google to engage in collective bargaining with the union and could make the company liable for any violations of federal labor law.

This complaint follows a similar investigation into changes made by Google and Accenture Flex to workers’ conditions without prior bargaining, filed by the union in October. The NLRB had already ruled in January 2024 that Google must bargain with workers at YouTube Music, who were employed by a different staffing firm. An appeals court will review this decision later in the month.

Google, however, has argued that it does not exert sufficient control over its contract workers to be considered their joint employer. The company has also implemented changes, including eliminating a $15-an-hour minimum wage for contractors, in an effort to avoid union negotiations.

The new complaint will be heard by an administrative judge, with the final decision subject to review by the NLRB. This legal development is part of a broader trend of increased labor organizing at Google, which has seen protests over its business practices and employment policies.