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The country's second-largest employer, Amazon, has so far been safe from any attempt by US workers to form a union. With rumors of employee organization at Whole Foods – which Amazon bought for $ 13.7 billion last year – a 45-minute anti-union training video produced by the company was sent to chiefs food chain team last week. the activities of the store. The recordings of this video, obtained by Gizmodo, provide valuable information about the thinking and tactics of the company.
Each of the six sections of the video, which the narrator states "specially designed to give you the tools you need to succeed in the organization of work," takes place in a simulated performance center. The narrators of the video are dressed in reflective jackets typical of the real world. "We are not anti-union, but we are not neutral either," says the video, making a distinction that would probably be largely academic for potential organizers. To explain what non-neutrality might look like, the video is added in plain language (emphasis on ours):
"We do not believe that unions are in the best interest of our clients, our shareholders, or more importantly, our partners. Our business model is about speed, innovation and customer obsession – things that are not usually associated with the union. When we lose sight of these critical areas we jeopardize the job security of everyone: yours, mine and associates. "
Amazon's anti-union training video appears in the middle of an image crisis for the company. Years of reporting on low wages and poor working conditions peaked at the end of the summer when Senator Bernie Sanders proposed legislation directly challenging the company's reliance on social subsidy programs. Similarly, Amazon lost more than it earned in an offensive offensive ploy that rewarded its warehouse ambassadors for tweeting beautiful things about the company, such as: free to use the facilities toilets and are not slaves.
Gizmodo chose not to publish the video itself in order to preserve the anonymity of the source.
The video claims that Amazon prefers a "direct management" structure in which employees can grieve their bosses individually, rather than union representation. However, a number of warehouse workers have told Gizmodo, in their previous reports, that they felt that expressing their concerns had led to retaliation or dismissals. "[Amazon] preach that they have this open door policy and when you try to go through that open door, instead of being allowed to enter, you are now settled, "said a former center employee to Gizmodo of accomplishment of Indiana. "You are someone who speaks and you are someone that they will absolutely make the job as difficult as possible for a human." Another employee of the Floridian Fulfillment Center told Gizmodo that he had sent complaints to the email of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos address ([email protected]) and claims management had "been harassing me since I sent this email. " He stated that he had been fired shortly thereafter.
We have asked Amazon for feedback on their response to employees who raise concerns and will update us when we have news.
The video provides some information on the National Labor Relations Act – the 1935 Act guaranteeing workers the right to organize, take collective action and go on strike – and various employee protection activities. entitled "Warning Signs".
Here are some (extended) examples "that may indicate an associated disengagement, organizational vulnerability, or early organizational activity," according to the video:
- Use of words like "living wage" and "steward"
- Distribution of petitions and leaflets
- Associates expressing their concerns on behalf of their colleagues
- Wear t-shirts, hats or jackets
- Workers "who normally are not connected to each other, suddenly find themselves together"
- Workers showing "unusual interest in policies, benefits, employee lists or other information about the company"
- Increased negativity in the workplace
- "[A]another associated behavior that is out of character "
The training video then asks managers to listen to 10 hypothetical employees and to choose whether their remarks constitute a "warning sign" or an "innocent interaction". Workers who hang out in the room after their shift request a list of the site or complain about the lack of a living wage fall into the category of "warning signs".
In the following sections, Amazon teaches officials that when it comes to discussions with subordinates about unions, "almost everything you say is lawful", even providing examples of completely hidden statements, even if we emphasize ):
"You would never threaten to close your building simply because associates joined a union. But you might need to talk about how The creation of a union could be detrimental to innovation, which could be detrimental to the customer's obsession, which could threaten the survival of the building."
While warning leaders that activities such as the threat of employees cross a line, giving personal opinions that accomplish about the same thing is in their rights. "Opinions can be sweet, like" I prefer working directly with associates "or" Unions lie, deceive rats ". The law protects both!
Everywhere, leaders are encouraged to express their views on unions, and any sign of potential organization is expected to be communicated immediately to human resources and general managers.
Unfortunately, these types of tactics are not unique to Amazon. In recent years, Target, Lowe's and Walmart have all been criticized for producing training videos aimed at canceling employee organization.
"The truth is that [Whole Foods Market] is afraid of organized work and these trainings echo this fear, "a current organizer of Whole Foods told Gizmodo. "I think the parts in particular where team leaders learn to subtly manipulate conversations with their team members are really disgusting. It is representative of the worst parts of the WFM culture.
Amazon declined to comment on the video recording, but told Gizmodo that he regularly shares training videos on many topics.
In all respects, Amazon is seriously concerned about the prospect of Whole Foods, or any part of their business, becoming a union. It may be time for workers to wonder why their bosses are so worried.
Update 14h30: After Amazon declined several requests to comment on this story, the company released the following publication. Amazon claims that we have "extracted the sound clips" from the video and that our characterization does not give "Amazon's vision of how to create career opportunities for employees." We published the statement below and asked Amazon to share the video with us so that readers can watch it themselves.
"We are perplexed as to why Gizmodo disagrees with a company that wants to better engage its employees, train hundreds of managers to maintain an open and direct dialogue with associates, and create channels to innovate on behalf of the customer. inclusive environment. The reporter clearly chose audio clips from the video to achieve his editorial goal and not align with our vision of how to create career opportunities for employees.
"In the United States, the average hourly wage of a full-time associate in our execution centers, including cash bonuses, stock and incentive awards, exceeds $ 15 per hour before overtime." . This is in addition to our full range of benefits that includes health, vision and dental insurance, retirement, generous parental leave and job training for the jobs required through our Career Choices program of more than 16,000 participants. We encourage everyone to come see for themselves by visiting one of our treatment centers – to learn more, visit http://amazonfctours.com.
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