Thursday, May 05, 2022

Bernie Sanders slams Amazon.com chairman at Senate hearing



U.S. Senate Budget Committee holds hearing on Amazon's labor practices, in Washington
CHRIS SMALLS ALU ORGANIZER AND PRESIDENT


Thu, May 5, 2022,

By David Shepardson and Nandita Bose

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. Senate Budget Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders on Thursday slammed Amazon.com Inc and its chairman at a hearing on the company's labor practices as he pushed the White House to end government contracts for the retailer.

"Amazon has done everything possible - legal and illegal - to defeat union organizing efforts," Sanders said.

But the company won bipartisan support at the hearing, including from Democratic Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia, a state with a large Amazon presence.

"I don't think Amazon is an organized criminal syndicate," Kaine said, adding he backs efforts to make it easier for workers to unionize. "Amazon employs a million Americans - not everybody hates their jobs at Amazon."

Sanders addressed Amazon Chairman Jeff Bezos, who had been invited to testify but did not appear.

"Given all your wealth, how much do you need? Why are you doing everything in your power, including breaking the law, to deny Amazon workers the right to join a union so that they can negotiate for better wages, better working conditions and better benefits?" Sanders asked. "How much do you need?"

Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The committee heard testimony from several people including Christian Smalls, who heads the Amazon Labor Union.

"Imagine being a new hire at Amazon. Your second day, you don't even know your job assignment and the first thing they do is march them into an anti-union propaganda class," Smalls alleged.

Senator Lindsey Graham, the top Republican on the panel, criticized Sanders for singling out Amazon. "This is an effort to get an outcome you want using the United States Senate as your vehicle. This is very dangerous," he said. "You can have oversight hearings how you like but you determine Amazon is a piece of crap company. That's your political bias."

Graham said companies must be allowed to express their views about unions.

He noted that Boeing Co workers have not unionized in South Carolina, where they build the 787. "The idea that Boeing can't argue the merits of a right-to-work environment for their business is ridiculous and I think patently illegal."

Sean O'Brien, general president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, said one of the ways to hold Amazon accountable is for the government to take back contracts with companies "until they are a responsible employer."

Later in the day, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris will host a White House meeting with Smalls and labor leaders seeking to represent workers at Amazon, Starbucks Corp and other employers. A White House official said the meeting aims to show that the administration "is supportive of their efforts to empower workers."

Last week, Sanders urged President Joe Biden to issue an executive order cutting off federal contracts to Amazon, saying the online retailer "has become the poster child for illegal anti-union behavior while raking in billions in federal contracts."

Workers at an Amazon warehouse in New York City recently voted to form the first union at the second-largest U.S. private employer and join the Amazon Labor Union under the leadership of Smalls, a former worker who has argued for higher pay and job security.

Amazon workers voted against unionizing a second warehouse in New York City, a ballot count on Monday showed, representing a defeat for labor organizers just weeks after they celebrated their first U.S. win at the online retailer.

(Reporting by David Shepardson and Nandita Bose in WashingtonEditing by Chris Sanders and Matthew Lewis)



O'BRIEN: AMAZON MUST BE BARRED FROM FEDERAL GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS

PR Newswire

WASHINGTON, May 5, 2022

Teamsters General President Sean M. O'Brien Testifies Before Senate Budget Committee, Calls Out Amazon's Anti-Worker Practices

WASHINGTON, May 5, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Teamsters General President Sean M. O'Brien called out Amazon during a Senate hearing today for its anti-worker, anti-union practices and demanded the federal government stop awarding the global behemoth lucrative government contracts.


International Brotherhood Of Teamsters. (PRNewsFoto/International Brotherhood of Teamsters)

Testifying before the Senate Budget Committee, O'Brien told lawmakers that lawbreaking companies like Amazon should not be allowed to profit at taxpayer expense while violating the rights of workers to collectively bargain. Noting President Biden made a campaign promise to only award contracts to employers who signed neutrality agreements committing to not run anti-union campaigns, O'Brien said it is time to drop the hammer on Amazon.

"To put it plainly, it is wrong for our government to be giving taxpayer dollars in the form of federal contracts to companies like Amazon," O'Brien said. "You are rewarding employers who repeatedly, knowingly and purposefully violate federal labor laws, drive down wages and standards in core Teamster industries and create dangerous working environments."

O'Brien noted the company was found guilty last year of illegally firing two workers after they advocated on behalf of their coworkers at an Amazon warehouse in Seattle. Additionally, Amazon broke labor law in Alabama when workers there tried to organize, forcing their election to be rerun this year. In December, the National Labor Relations Board cited Amazon for illegally threatening, surveilling and interrogating workers who were trying to start a union at its Staten Island facility. According to filings with the U.S. Department of Labor, Amazon spent $4.3 million on consultants last year alone to prevent its workers from organizing.

"These kinds of actions make something very clear — when workers try to organize, Amazon breaks the law. When workers raise their voices, Amazon does whatever it takes to shut them up because Amazon is terrified of the power workers have when they act collectively," O'Brien said.

O'Brien spoke about Amazon's exploitative business model and its direct impact on workers. As federal safety data shows, the company's punishing pace-of-work results in worker injury rates that are nearly twice as high as that of all other non-Amazon warehouse facilities. Its employees are seriously injured at rates that are nearly 80 percent higher than the rest of the entire warehouse industry. Amazon accounts for half of all warehouse worker injuries, yet the company only employs a third of all warehouse workers nationwide.

"To this committee and to the entire federal government, do your duty to protect American workers," O'Brien said. "We are watching, we are listening, and we are voting. Tell Amazon that enough is enough, and then show them you mean business. Don't give this company, or any employer, another penny until the labor laws of this land are truly upheld and workers' voices are finally heard."

Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents 1.2 million hardworking men and women throughout the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. Visit www.teamster.org for more information. Follow us on Twitter @Teamsters and "like" us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/teamsters.

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SOURCE International Brotherhood of Teamsters

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