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Environmentalists protest in front of Amazon shareholders’ meeting
Paayal Zaveri | CNBC
The National Labor Relations Board will hold a hearing on September 28 to examine accusations that Amazon illegally retaliated against two of its most vocal internal critics when it fired them last year, according to a filing.
Amazon fired Emily Cunningham and Maren Costa, both of whom were user experience designers at the company’s Seattle headquarters, for “repeated breaches of internal policies” in April 2020. Cunningham and Costa said they had been fired in retaliation for their continued criticism of Amazon’s climate policies. and work practices.
The NLRB in April found merit in Cunningham and Costa’s unfair labor practice complaint, which was filed last October. In their complaint to the NLRB, Cunningham and Costa alleged that Amazon violated federal labor laws by firing them “on the basis of discriminatory application of its non-solicitation and communication policies”, the latter of which prohibits employees talking about Amazon’s business without the director’s approval.
These policies have also had the effect of crippling and restricting the right of employees to engage in activities protected by federal labor laws, they argued.
In May, the NLRB regional office in Seattle filed a complaint in the Cunningham and Costa case. The complaint will now be heard by an administrative judge during a virtual hearing scheduled for September 28.
A spokesperson for the NLRB confirmed the hearing to CNBC, but declined to comment further on the case. Cunningham declined to comment. Costa did not respond to a request for comment.
Amazon representatives did not respond to a request for comment. The company had previously said it disagreed with the NLRB’s decision, noting that it agreed with employees’ right to speak out, but “that doesn’t come with general immunity from our internal policies, which are all legal. “
Amazon could still reach an agreement with Cunningham and Costa before the hearing or during the trial. If the trial continues, either party can appeal the judge’s decision to the NLRB board of directors in Washington.
Amazon has faced a growing number of complaints from employees who allege the company has retaliated against them for speaking out. The volume of complaints has reached a level high enough that the NLRB is considering consolidating its efforts into a nationwide investigation, NBC News reported in March.
The coronavirus pandemic has generated a growing push among Amazon warehouse and delivery workers to advocate for better working conditions, leading to a series of actions such as protests and attempts to organize. At the same time, a growing number of employees have filed complaints with the NLRB, many of whom allege unfair labor practices.
Amazon recently settled with Jonathan Bailey, an Amazon employee who led a strike over Covid-19 issues at a warehouse in Queens, New York, and then accused the company of violating federal labor law when she interviewed him after the walkout, according to the New York Times.
Amazon also struck a deal with Courtney Bowden, a warehouse worker in Pennsylvania, who alleged she was wrongly fired after arguing for sick pay for part-time workers, NBC News reported.
Amid rising warehouse and delivery worker activism, Costa and Cunningham’s outspokenness represented a rare example of Amazon tech workers advocating for changes at the company.
Costa and Cunningham were members of the employee advocacy group Amazon Employees for Climate Justice, which urged the company to do more for its environmental impact. The group wrote an open letter in 2019 asking Amazon founder and executive chairman Jeff Bezos to adopt a comprehensive climate policy, which has been signed by more than 8,700 employees. Later that year, more than 1,500 Amazon technicians demonstrated to protest its climate stance.
They also pressured Amazon to change the way it reacts to workers who speak out against its policies. After Amazon threatened to fire them for speaking out against its climate stance, AECJ organized hundreds of employees to speak out and risk being fired for intentionally violating the policy.
During the coronavirus pandemic, Costa and Cunningham raised concerns about the safety of warehouse workers. Both shared a petition from warehouse workers pleading for more protections and offered to match donations up to $ 500 in favor of the cause.
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