New York Attorney General is Interviewing Amazon Employees About Warehouse Conditions as Retaliation Probe Continues (cnbc.com) 9
The New York attorney general's office has interviewed Amazon workers from a handful of facilities in the state, as claims of employee retaliation become a central focus of its investigation into the company's labor practices, CNBC reported Friday, citing people familiar with the matter. From the report: New York Attorney General Letitia James sent a letter to Amazon in April saying it was looking into whether the company violated federal employment law or broke the state's whistleblower laws when it fired a worker who organized a strike at its Staten Island facility. The worker, Chris Smalls, led a protest calling for Amazon to close the warehouse and put in place greater safety protections, echoing warehouse workers' concerns across the country.
The letter calls on Amazon to reinstate Smalls and asks it to turn over all internal communications dating back to Feb. 1 related to workers' complaints, protests and efforts to organize. In late March, James' office began contacting Amazon workers from New York area warehouses. So far, it has spoken to workers from facilities in Staten Island, Queens and Bethpage, and is adding more facilities to its roster as it receives complaints, the people said. The conversations have touched on Amazon's safety practices during the coronavirus pandemic, including enforcement of social distancing rules, workers' access to personal protective equipment and its documentation of positive coronavirus cases at facilities.
The letter calls on Amazon to reinstate Smalls and asks it to turn over all internal communications dating back to Feb. 1 related to workers' complaints, protests and efforts to organize. In late March, James' office began contacting Amazon workers from New York area warehouses. So far, it has spoken to workers from facilities in Staten Island, Queens and Bethpage, and is adding more facilities to its roster as it receives complaints, the people said. The conversations have touched on Amazon's safety practices during the coronavirus pandemic, including enforcement of social distancing rules, workers' access to personal protective equipment and its documentation of positive coronavirus cases at facilities.
Probe all you can (Score:2)
But of course, that does not generate the big headlines an AG needs to get re-elected.
telling an union guy not to talk to others is bad (Score:3)
telling an union guy not to talk to others is bad under the law
Re: (Score:2)
telling an union guy not to talk to others is bad under the law
They didn't tell him not to talk. They told him to stay home.
He could still talk to his co-workers by phone, text, email, or by meeting them after work.
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telling an union guy not to talk to others is bad under the law
They didn't tell him not to talk. They told him to stay home.
He could still talk to his co-workers by phone, text, email, or by meeting them after work.
Well, everything is OK then.
Because we all know that we take all phone calls and read all texts and emails and we all want to meet with people after a long hard day after working at a hot warehouse running around till exhaustion. And yet, management insists on in -person meetings.
I worked in those places. Amazon is not the only warehouse fulfillment company around.
After a couple of months, I started getting a real bad attitude. The bosses were assholes. If I did not have my pockets turned out for th
Re: (Score:2)
After a couple of months, I started getting a real bad attitude.
Why don't you quit and find something that suits you better?
We were NOT paid for the search line or search - NO MATTER HOW LONG IT TOOK. I spent at least 2 hours a day UNPAID for their dipshit security.
That's illegal, at least in California. See here [dwt.com]. I assume your state would have a similar arrangement. If it doesn't, time to petition your state representatives.
Re:telling an union guy not to talk to others is b (Score:4, Insightful)
telling an union guy not to talk to others is bad under the law
Yeah, I totally get that. But from what I understand, that's not why he was fired. Being "a union guy" does not give you a license to do whatever you want. Especially not when you have been told to stay home, paid, because you're a potential danger to others.
And I bet you that if this case would not have made it to the news because it concerns Amazon, that AG would not have bothered.
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There are a lot of Union Protection Laws out there. They are there because companies like Amazon have a lot of money and power, that would make it too easy for them to bust them.
However these laws also seem to allow unions to do some really underhanded stuff.