Amazon Faces NLRB Ruling in Employee Firings

In the previous year, Amazon terminated the employment of Emily Cunningham and Maren Costa. These two individuals had been vocal within the company, publicly criticizing Amazon’s practices concerning environmental impact and labor standards.

This week, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruled that the dismissal of Cunningham and Costa constituted unlawful retaliation. Cunningham communicated to The New York Times that the board will issue a more extensive public censure of Amazon’s actions should the company fail to implement corrective measures.

Amazon's Response

Amazon communicated to TechCrunch that the terminations were not directly linked to the employees’ criticisms. Instead, the company attributes the decision to violations of other, unspecified internal regulations. A company spokesperson stated, “While we uphold the right of every employee to voice concerns about working conditions, this right does not grant immunity from adherence to our internal policies.” The spokesperson further clarified that the employees were terminated due to repeated breaches of these policies.

Cunningham characterized the NLRB’s decision as a significant “moral victory.”

Labor Disputes and the Bessemer, Alabama Facility

This development occurred during a period of increased activity for Amazon, which was designated as an essential service as the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the U.S. in April. Prior to this ruling, the company had inaugurated a large fulfillment center in Bessemer, Alabama, which quickly became the center of a new labor dispute.

Currently, the Alabama warehouse is the focal point of the most substantial unionization effort in Amazon’s history. The NLRB is overseeing the ballot counting process, which began last Tuesday. During the final days of voting, Amazon engaged in a vigorous social media campaign against supporters of the union, but has since partially retracted this effort, including issuing an apology for comments regarding reports of employees urinating in bottles to meet demanding quotas.

Additional NLRB Findings

Beyond the cases of Cunningham and Costa, the NLRB has also issued a favorable ruling for Jonathan Bailey, a co-founder of Amazonians United.

Update: Amazon provided TechCrunch with a supplementary statement, asserting, “We disagree with these initial findings. We champion the right of our employees to critique working conditions, but this does not provide exemption from our lawful internal policies.” The company reiterated that the terminations were based on repeated policy violations, not the reasons outlined in the preliminary NLRB findings.