Home » Employment News » Amazon pushes back in U.S. labor board’s case over fired warehouse worker

Amazon pushes back in U.S. labor board’s case over fired warehouse worker

By Nagasunder in Employment News, posted July 27, 2022

Amazon is fighting the U.S Labor Board's attempt to make it re-hire a dismissed New York warehouse worker because it can't prove the firing had any impact on attempts to unionize.

The e-commerce giant has moved to inform a federal judge the attempt to get Gerald Bryson is futile and should be rejected.

Amazon stated in a filing on Friday in federal court in Brooklyn it cannot demonstrate that the 2020 firing of Bryson had any adverse effects on the Amazon Labor Union's organizing efforts.

In April, warehouse workers in Staten Island cast ballots to join the ALU.

Amazon is contesting the election results

The company says Bryson was dismissed for verbally abusing a female co-worker during a demonstration outside the facility.

According to the NLRB, Bryson was singled out by the business for his attempts to form a union.

Requests for comment from the NLRB did not immediately receive a response. Neither did Bryson's defense attorney from the Center for Popular Democracy, a liberal advocacy organization.

Amazon has been repeatedly accused of prioritizing profit over worker safety and of illegally discouraging union organizing, employees at dozens of Amazon facilities across the United States are considering joining unions.

The business has said its productivity goals are reasonable and based on what the majority of employees really achieve, and it has refuted accusations it has engaged in unfair labor practices.

In a petition submitted in March, the NLRB argued that until the resolution of a separate case involving Bryson's discharge before the board, Amazon should not retaliate against Staten Island warehouse employees who raise safety concerns.

Just before the union election, an NLRB administrative law judge determined that Bryson's firing violated federal labor law in April.

Amazon has since referred that decision to the five-member board.

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Even while the NLRB seldom files a lawsuit while a board case is ongoing, doing so might signal that the organization thinks widespread illegal behavior is taking place.

On Friday, Amazon said that requiring Bryson to be restored would signal that workplace misconduct is acceptable if it comes in the context of labor organizing.

In April, Amazon settled complaints filed with the NLRB accusing the company of firing six employees at a Chicago warehouse who had requested additional precautions amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The company denied wrongdoing.

Source: Reuters

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