Following the long American tradition of wealthy corporate overlords making anti-union comments, amazon CEO Andy Jassy launched a media campaign in 2022 to warn about the terrors of unions disrupting the workplace. (It's surely an unfortunate coincidence that his urgent PSA coincided with an uptick in organizing efforts at amazon.) Unfortunately for Jassy, the United States still has a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), and CNBC amazon-ceo-andy-jassy-broke-federal-labor-law-with-anti-union-remarks.html” rel=”nofollow noopener” target=”_blank” data-ylk=”slk:reports;elm:context_link;elmt:doNotAffiliate;cpos:2;pos:1;itc:0;sec:content-canvas”>reports that the board ruled Wednesday that his anti-union comments violated federal labor laws.
Jassy appeared in CNBC in April 2022 to say that if employees voted and joined a union, they would lose power and could expect things to become “much slower” and “more bureaucratic.” In an interview with BloombergHe added, “If you see something at play that you think might be better for your team, for yourself, or for your clients, you can't just go to your manager and say, 'Let's change it.'”
His anti-union trifecta culminated in The New York Times DealBook conference, where the CEO said a union-free workplace is “not bureaucratic, it's not slow.”
It's the latest in amazon's long history of anti-union behavior.
NLRB Judge Brian Gee said Jassy violated labor laws by suggesting that employees would have less power or be “better off” without a union. However, Mr Gee said the chief executive's other comments about changing relations between workers and employers were legal. According to the judge, the difference is that the more aggressive quotes “went beyond simply commenting on the employee-employer relationship.”
Gee added that the comments “threatened employees that if they chose a union, they would lose power and have a harder time getting things done quickly.” The judge recommends that amazon “cease and desist” from making similar comments in the future. The company must also post and share a notice about the judge's order with all of its U.S. employees.
In December, Jassy's amazon shares were valued with $328 million, making him one of the richest CEOs in the United States.
In a statement to CNBC, an amazon spokesperson said the judge's ruling “poorly reflects the current state of free speech rights.” Because, hey, what kind of free country do we have if a retail mogul can't tell low-income workers scary bedtime stories about the dangers of voting to empower themselves in the workplace?
