Wednesday, May 25, 2022

New Allegations Of Union Busting In Newest Amazon NY Distribution Center


I will post this one here, to keep a complete record, but I'm not sure what to make of all that voluntary job switching, inside Amazon, four times in under two years, while relocating twice in cross country moves. It could show a deep commitment to the company, or it could be a sign of a supposed problem being repeatedly shipped around to other facilities. So, I am not clear whether it will be particularly helpful to establishing the couple's credibility, as witnesses.

In any event this is to keep a record, as I say:

. . .Main said he was suspended a few days after telling two human resources managers and an operations manager that he might try to organize a union at the warehouse.

His partner, Ashley Mercer, alleged in her own complaint to the NLRB that, on the same day Main was suspended, the company ordered her to spend a day in the sun picking up cigarette butts in the parking lot even though she is six months pregnant. She said she was given no water or suntan lotion and suffered sunburn on her face and arms. . . .

The couple said they moved in October from Brooklyn to Syracuse to take advantage of Central New York’s cheaper cost of living. Despite knowing of their union support, Amazon approved their request for a transfer from Staten Island to its last-mile delivery center in DeWitt, they said.

They said they did not come to Syracuse to organize a union drive but were upfront about their support for a union. They wore Amazon Labor Union T-shirts and face masks at work in DeWitt and frequently talked to other workers about their support for the union and the possibility of organizing workers at the facility, the couple said.

Mercer said she suffered a rotator cuff injury from lifting products at the delivery center and was out of work for a month while receiving workers’ compensation benefits. When the highly automated Clay warehouse opened at the start of May, she said, she and Main asked Amazon to transfer them there, hoping the pace of work would be slower. . . .

The Clay warehouse is the fourth Amazon warehouse where Main and Mercer have worked. They worked in Chicago in 2020 before transferring to the Amazon warehouse known as JFK8 on Staten Island in 2021. . . .


Now you know. . . no longer hidden of last evening. . . previously, I assumed it was for safety's sake. Onward.

नमस्ते

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