U.S. law protects the right of workers to vote on whether or not they want to form a union at their place of work. PPI strongly supports that right, and we respect the results whatever the workers decide.
We also support the First Amendment’s guarantee of free speech for all Americans. That’s why we’re scratching our heads over the National Labor Relations Board’s decision this week to file a complaint against Amazon CEO Andy Jassy for publicly expressing his opinion that Amazon workers would be better off without unions. Jassy cited the benefits of direct relationships between workers and management and the ability to solve workplace problems without stretched out bureaucratic processes.
NLRB claimed that Jassy’s comments somehow interfere with the ability of Amazon workers to unionize. That’s nonsense. In fact, labor unions recently have launched two high-profile organizing drives at Amazon facilities. All failed when the workers voted against setting up a union.
It’s hard to avoid the suspicion that the pro-union majority on the Labor Board didn’t like those results and is scapegoating Jassy. In any event, federal bureaucrats can’t arrogate to themselves the power to deprive any citizen – even corporate executives – of their constitutional rights.
Last year, roughly 5,800 workers at Amazon’s Bessemer, Alabama fulfillment center, voted overwhelmingly not to form a union. Labor activists cried foul, and the NLRB ordered a second vote to be held in March 2022. It also failed. Last fall, workers at an Amazon warehouse near Albany, NY also voted overwhelmingly (66%) against unionization.
One important reason for workers’ apparent lack of enthusiasm for unions is that Amazon is a pay leader in many areas. The starting pay for frontline workers at Amazon is, on average, more than $19 per hour with benefits as well as a plethora of educational programs employees are given access to which aid mobility both within the company and for those looking to explore other occupations. For workers, this is roughly comparable to starting wages in manufacturing in many parts of the country.
Yet union activists and their NLRB allies are quick to attribute the failure of organizing drives to alleged intimidation or dirty tricks by management. The Board should and does investigate claims of misconduct but has yet to produce compelling evidence that the Amazon votes do not reflect the majority sentiment among its workers.
At a time when U.S. democracy is threatened by Republican election deniers, the Biden administration should not countenance similar behavior by NLRB bureaucrats who don’t respect unions elections that yield the “wrong” result.
