In recent days, Amazon has strengthened its human resources strategy with the idea of avoiding a massive unionization of the employees of the distribution centers in the United States.
It is revealed by a report from Reuters which indicates that the company founded by Jeff Bezos is forcing employees to report to informational meetings and putting up posters in their workplaces, among other activities.
It should be remembered that in early 2021, Amazon far surpassed a historic union campaign at a logistics center in the state of Alabama.
However, Reuters says, it does not want to leave anything to chance and aims to prevent further attempts after detecting a greening of union activity since workers refused to join the Retailers, Wholesalers and Large Stores Union (RWDSU) in April.
Other unions with a large presence in the United States, such as International Brotherhood of TeamstersThey are also looking to get Amazon warehouse workers union organizing, so far, to no avail.
The risk for Amazon is that unions could change the way Amazon runs its operations and drive costs up, just as there is a severe labor shortage, which affects its profits.
According to Reuters, Amazon is making “new and aggressive moves” as it fears that a vote will reopen in Alabama after an official with the US National Labor Relations Board said the company’s conduct in relation to the April vote could have interfered with the election. There is even talk that a new vote “is near.”
Amazon denied any wrongdoing, saying all it wanted was for the voice of employees to be heard.
In a statement, Amazon spokeswoman Kelly Nantel said that a union within the firm “will affect everyone,” so “it is important that employees understand what that means to them and to their daily lives.”
In mandatory meetings with employees, Amazon warns staff that unions will force them to strike and forgo payments, Reuters says. Also that unions are a company that takes money from workers.
“Unions can make many promises, but they cannot guarantee that better wages, benefits or working conditions will be received,” says one of the many posters in the bathrooms of Amazon’s fulfillment centers.
In response, some employees have posted their own pro-union posters in the same places.
The dispute continues and, for now, there does not seem to be a clear scenario for a solution.