Recruiting, Selection, and Training

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Amazon’s Unionization

Asianna Johnson

Employee and Labor Relations

Dr. Keisha M. Hawkins

10/26/2020

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Amazon’s Unionization

Amazon is a prime example of an organization that is not unionized. Since its formation

in 1994, the company has squashed efforts to unionize its employees. Through its training

videos, the company uploaded on Youtube asserts that those unions are a direct threat to

employers' ample and well-organized work practices since they often incite employees to run

away from duties. Furthermore, Amazon, for all of its indisputable achievement under the current

founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, has gotten a status of having a very rough and hard place of work.

Among the firm's professional staff, it is extensively viewed as unyielding, hypercompetitive,

and demanding. However, it is a place that punishes them for other people even though it has an

excellent organizational culture. The lack of unions to represent the rights of workers in Amazon

is a threat to employee welfare.

Benefits of Organizing a Union for Amazon Employees

For 25 years, Amazon has prevented its employees from entering into unions. For those

years, there have been countless protests from employees and the National Labor Rights Body to

enforce unions in the organization. For instance, in 2019, there was a strike of Amazon

warehouse employees in Minneapolis. Their demands were calling for Amazon to end inhumane

working conditions. They encapsulated under the company's lack of job security, Amazon's

instigation of unfair write-ups, and high workloads . These problems would be solved with

unions' existence since unions usually take drastic steps to ensure employees' welfare is taken

care of. For instance, they ensure that employees are not overloaded with duties. They also

ensure that the workplace is safe from hazards and risks (Gracely, 2012). They also ensure that

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employees are not fired for organizing strikes since it is their right to protest inhumane working

conditions.

Non-unionized Amazon pays its workers poorly, and the wages do not reflect the

vigorous working conditions workers are forced to work in. In four United States states, the

company's workers are usually noted as being reliant on food stamps. In a 2017 trade filing,

Amazon recounted that its employees' median salary was about $28,446, or coarsely $13.68 an

hour for all round-the-clock employees (Bernstein & Hof, 2000). However, those are meager

wages when compared to what the chief executive officer earns per hour. Under unions, such low

pays would warrant a case in the courts that would prompt the company to raise the minimum

basic pay for its employees. Overall, unions' benefits protect workers from employee

mistreatment and so allow an employee to have better welfare in the workplace.

Mission, Purpose, and Objective Statement

The newly founded union's mission will be to ensure that Amazon employees, both round

the clock and part-time employees, are duly reimbursed for services rendered. The objective

statement is to improve working conditions at Amazon Company for employees. The union's

purpose will be to ensure that all-round employees are paid more than $13.68 an hour, roughly $

20.00 an hour, because they work for longer hours with meager wages. The union's purpose will

be to ensure that Amazon employees' work load is lessened. Preferably the working hours should

be 8 hours and workload be paid for (Bernstein & Hof, 2000). It will also lobby for the

improvement of the employees' job security. Currently, Amazon has many employees hired on a

contractual basis, and thus, they can be fired at will for the slightest mistake. Such an

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environment introduces a scenario where employees are open to exploitation. The union's other

purpose will be to seek better terms of employment through a collective bargain agreement or the

famous CBA. A collective bargain agreement is a document that assists employees in having

better terms of employment. It requires the employer to sign and pledge that such terms are

agreeable from their standpoint and employees' standpoint.

Plan to Organize the Union

The first process is discussing Amazon employees’ concerns with co-workers. In this

phase, employees are evaluating and building support for action. This planning stage includes

recognizing core issues and educating Amazon employees on unionization rights. As noted on

multiple union websites, this step also encompasses developing an understanding of proper union

policies and principles (Catero, 2018). This step aims to accumulate an organizing committee

that is informed and fairly represents the workplace.

The second step involves developing a list of demands—also referred to as an issue

program and soliciting employee support for the union. In Amazon's case, this union will provide

social media training and support—a situation described by “union proofing” communications

firm Projections in their UnionProofing.

To proceed with a union election, at least 30% of Amazon employees must sign union

agreement cards, although some unions prefer to see a majority show of support (Gracely, 2012).

Once this threshold is met, the organizing committee can submit a petition to the NLRB for the

election. The majority percentage is also significant in that an employer may voluntarily

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recognize a union based on "evidence," typically signed authorization cards that a majority of

employees choose union representation.

Steps of Starting the Union

Step 1: Build an Organizing Committee

Leaders are identified, and an organizing committee representing all major departments

and all shifts and reflecting the racial, ethnic, and gender diversity in the workforce is

established. Organizing committee training begins immediately. Committee members must be

prepared to work hard to educate themselves and their co-workers about the union and warn and

educate co-workers about the impending management anti-union campaign. The organizing

committee must be educated about workers' right to organize and understand UE policies and

principles of democracy and rank-and-file control.

Step 2: Get together with Amazon employees who may share a common interest in organizing

the union.

This step is critical in enabling support for the union and determines the union's strength moving

forward.

Step 2: Adopting an Issue Program

The committee develops a program for the demands of the union demands (the

improvements the union will organize to achieve) and a union election campaign strategy. A plan

for highlighting the issues program in the workplace is carried out through various organizing

campaign activities.

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Step 3: Step 3: Sign-Up Majority on Union Cards

Amazon employers are asked to join the union and support the union’s program by

signing membership cards. The goal is to sign-up a sizable majority. This "card campaign"

should proceed quickly once begun and is necessary to hold a union election.

Step 4: Win the Union Election

The signed cards are used (and required) to petition the state or federal labor board to

hold an election. It will take the labor board at least several weeks to determine who is eligible to

vote and schedule the election. The union campaign must continue and intensify during the wait.

If the union wins, the employer must recognize and bargain with the union (Bernstein & Hof,

2000). Winning a union election not only requires a strong, diverse organizing committee and a

solid issues program, but there must also be a plan to fight the employer’s anti-union campaign.

Step 5: Negotiate a Contract

The organizing campaign does not let up after an election victory. The campaign's real

goal, a union contract (the document the union and the employer negotiate and sign, covering

everything from wages to how disputes will be handled), is still to be achieved. Workers must be

mobilized to support the union's contract demands (decided by you and your co-workers) and

pressure the employer to meet them.

Timeline for the Execution of the Union

The union’s activities will commence after a lengthened after the financial year 2019/2020 ends.

This will enable us to see how the company treats its workers in the workplace.

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Management Objections of the Union

The newly formed union may suffer from objections arising from its management. Some of these

objections may arise from its conduct regarding the administration of the collective bargain

agreement. The collective bargain agreement is usually a focal point in the disagreement of

unions and employers. Its terms are usually stringent and so the management might have fears

using it to bargain the position and welfare of employees. The other position would be the

payment made to the unions by employees, the management may demand high exorbitant wages

to be cut from employee salary due to the union’s work of representing them.

Arguments to counter management’s position on unions

The union will however counter cat the managements position concerning the CBA since

it’s a valid document contained in the coffers of the law. Amazon as a company that thwarts

efforts of employees is likely to decline some terms such as pay-rise of the CBA; however, when

a CBA is signed it must be adhered to. Thus, using it as leveraging position is critical in enabling

a conducive environment for Amazon workers (Fort, Adda & Cohen, 2011). As a union charging

extra and exorbitant fees goes against what the union stands for. The fees that the union will

charge is only membership fee renewable yearly.

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References

Bernstein, A., & Hof, R.2000. A Union for Amazon?. Business Week, (3710), 86-86.

Catero . 2018. Organizing and collecFve bargaining in the digiFzed “terFary factories. p. 141-146.

Palgrave Macmillan.

Fort, K, Adda, G & Cohen K.B. 2011. Amazon mechanical turk: Gold mine or coal mine?. p. 413-420.

ComputaFonal LinguisFcs Journal.

Gracely, N. 2012, October. Surviving in the Amazon. New Labor Forum. p. 80-83. Sage CA: SAGE

PublicaFons

Sainato, M. 2019. We are not robots’: Amazon warehouse employees push to unionize. The Guardian.