Amazon CEO Andy Jassy seems unwilling to accept the outcome of the historic union election in Staten Island.
In an onstage interview at a Code conference in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Wednesday, Jussie alleges “very disturbing injustice” in the vote of workers at New York City’s JFK8 warehouse, citing the National Labor Relations Board. Alluded to a long-running battle (NLRB), oversaw the election. Amazon actually challenged the union’s victory, claiming he had more than 20 issues with union behavior, including voter harassment and the way the NLRB ran and staffed elections. However, his NLRB official, who oversaw the objection hearing, recently recommended that Amazon’s objection be quashed entirely and that the Amazon union win. Jassy’s comments Wednesday suggest Amazon will continue to fight her NLRB over the issue.
“I think it’s unlikely that the NLRB will, so I think it will take a long time for it to be implemented. [rule] Jussie said Wednesday.
Amazon has until September 16th to submit exceptions for reporting. Based on Jassy’s comments, it seems likely that the tech giant will. Ultimately, even though the NLRB approves the election, the union fight isn’t over. U.S. labor law does not require Amazon to agree to do business with unions, only to negotiate in “good faith.” His Jassy comments on Wednesday suggest the company is far from engaging in such conduct. Jassy said in a nutshell that unionization was “not our choice” but “employees’.” In another instance, he seemed unwilling to accept the decision of the majority of Staten Island warehouse workers.
Jassy talked about the company’s salary and benefits package, as it has in the past — Amazon’s starting average wage for workers is now over $18 an hour — the company’s million Americans. Expressed as the main reason workers do not need a union. He scoffed at the proposal to just pay employees $25 an hour, arguing that Amazon needs to run a sustainable business and basically can’t afford to pay the company for it.
“There are limits to the economics of how you can have a business that you can pay for and make a profit,” he said.
In any event, Amazon warehouse workers in other locations, such as North Carolina and Albany, New York, are also organizing with the goal of forming or joining a union. One of the things that matters.
Jassy, a 25-year veteran of the company that previously ran Amazon Web Services, took over the CEO role from Jeff Bezos in July 2021, and the company appeared to be at an inflection point. A record number of customers shopped on his Amazon and watched its video streaming service. But growing criticism from some politicians, labor groups, and even some employees had put its longtime status as one of tech’s beloved companies in jeopardy.
More than a year later, the company’s challenges only grow. Amazon’s sales growth slowed dramatically as more people returned to shopping and spending money on activities in the physical world. As a result, Jassy oversaw a significant reduction in the company’s warehouse network, suspending or canceling warehouse development projects totaling tens of millions of square feet.
Amazon is also fighting to stay out of the way of politicians and regulators in Washington, DC. Amazon has spent a lot of money fighting Senate bills backed by Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minnesota). The bill would give regulators the power to sue tech giants like Amazon for their business practices of prioritizing their own products and services over those of third parties with whom they do business. Use non-public data on their platform or from their users to benefit their services. However, the bill has yet to receive a full Senate vote and time is running out before the midterm elections. The Federal Trade Commission has also been investigating Amazon since 2019, but has yet to confirm its investigation or file a lawsuit against the company.
