Amazon and trade unions

File:Larry Hogan tours Amazon warehouse in Maryland (36906693900).jpg]]

{{main|Criticism of Amazon#Treatment of workers}}

As the second-largest American employer{{r|SolonGlaser}} and the largest American e-commerce retailer with over one million workers and rapidly expanding, Amazon's warehouse labor practices have been subject to continued scrutiny, including reporting on work conditions, rising injury rates, worker surveillance, and efforts to block unionization.{{Cite web |last1=Lecher |first1=Colin |title=Amazon's 2020 Was a Banner Year for Profits—and for Criticism |work=The Markup |date=December 29, 2020 |url=https://themarkup.org/2020-in-review/2020/12/29/amazons-2020-was-a-banner-year-for-profits-and-for-criticism |language=en |access-date=December 31, 2020 |archive-date=December 31, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201231112919/https://themarkup.org/2020-in-review/2020/12/29/amazons-2020-was-a-banner-year-for-profits-and-for-criticism |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last1=Newton |first1=Casey |title=Amazon's poor treatment of workers is catching up to it during the coronavirus crisis |work=The Verge |date=April 1, 2020 |url=https://www.theverge.com/interface/2020/4/1/21201162/amazon-delivery-delays-coronavirus-worker-strikes |language=en |access-date=December 31, 2020 |archive-date=December 24, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201224124257/https://www.theverge.com/interface/2020/4/1/21201162/amazon-delivery-delays-coronavirus-worker-strikes |url-status=live }}{{cite magazine |last1=Matsakis |first1=Louise |title=Why Amazon Really Raised Its Minimum Wage to $15 |magazine=Wired |date=October 2, 2018 |url=https://www.wired.com/story/why-amazon-really-raised-minimum-wage/ |language=en-us |issn=1059-1028 |df=mdy-all |access-date=December 31, 2020 |archive-date=January 7, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210107132255/https://www.wired.com/story/why-amazon-really-raised-minimum-wage/ |url-status=live }} In the late 2010s, Amazon began to address warehouse wages and training opportunities.{{cite news |last1=Mattioli |first1=Dana |last2=Herrera |first2=Sebastian |title=Amazon Struggles to Find Its Coronavirus Footing. 'It's a Time of Great Stress.' |work=The Wall Street Journal |date=March 31, 2020 |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/amazon-struggles-to-find-its-coronavirus-footing-its-a-time-of-great-stress-11585664987 |language=en-US |issn=0099-9660 |quote=Amazon, which is responsible for more than one-third of e-commerce volumes in the U.S., has long faced complaints from warehouse workers about working conditions and their position in the employee hierarchy. The company, which is the nation's second-largest employer, in recent years has taken steps to boost hourly wages and improve employee-training opportunities. |access-date=December 31, 2020 |archive-date=January 1, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210101113456/https://www.wsj.com/articles/amazon-struggles-to-find-its-coronavirus-footing-its-a-time-of-great-stress-11585664987 |url-status=live }} Despite increasing its minimum wage to $15/hour, providing healthcare benefits and COVID-19 testing, labor advocates and government officials have criticized Amazon's warehouse working conditions.{{r|NYT Alabama near vote}} While unions are common among Amazon warehouse workers in Europe, few of Amazon's American workers are unionized.{{r|CNBC: closer|NYT Staten}} Amazon has actively opposed unionization in the United States,{{r|CNBC: closer}} having stated a preference to resolve issues with employees directly,{{r|NYT Staten}} asserting that unions would impede the company's innovation.{{r|Germany2013}} Prior to the 2020 Bessemer union drive, Amazon had not faced a major union vote in the United States since Delaware in 2014.{{Cite web |last1=Palmer |first1=Annie |title=Amazon moves closer to facing its first unionization vote in six years |work=CNBC |date=December 22, 2020 |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2020/12/22/amazon-moves-closer-to-facing-its-first-unionization-vote-in-six-years.html |language=en |access-date=December 31, 2020 |archive-date=January 1, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210101060550/https://www.cnbc.com/2020/12/22/amazon-moves-closer-to-facing-its-first-unionization-vote-in-six-years.html |url-status=live }}

File:Amazon warehouse workers outside the National Labor Relations Board 01.jpgOn April 1, 2022, the National Labor Relations Board announced that Amazon workers at the JFK8 warehouse in Staten Island, New York City voted to approve the union. 2,654 voted in favor of a union while 2,131 voted against a union.{{Cite news |last1=Oladipo |first1=Doyinsola |first2=Nivedita |last2=Balu |access-date=April 13, 2022 |date=April 1, 2022 |title=Amazon workers in New York vote to form a union |language=en-us |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/legal/transactional/amazons-ny-union-vote-count-continues-labor-leads-2022-04-01/ |archive-date=April 9, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220409060547/https://www.reuters.com/legal/transactional/amazons-ny-union-vote-count-continues-labor-leads-2022-04-01/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last=Lanard |first=Noah |date=2022-04-01 |title=Amazon Labor Union wins historic election at New York City warehouse |url=https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2022/04/amazon-labor-first-union-win-warehouse-staten-island-historic-smalls-jfk8/ |access-date=2022-04-01 |website=Mother Jones |language=en-US |archive-date=April 1, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220401190501/https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2022/04/amazon-labor-first-union-win-warehouse-staten-island-historic-smalls-jfk8/ |url-status=live }} As of April 2022, the JFK8 warehouse is currently Amazon's only unionized workplace in the United States.

On December 22, 2021, Amazon agreed in a settlement with the NLRB to allow more easily the 750,000 employees in the US to organize including allowing workers to be on property for longer than 15 minutes before and after their shifts for union organizing purposes. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 75 complaints have been lodged against Amazon according to the NLRB.{{Cite news |last=Weise |first=Karen |date=December 23, 2021 |title=Amazon Reaches Labor Deal, Giving Workers More Power to Organize |language=en-US |newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/23/technology/amazon-labor-deal.html|access-date=December 23, 2021|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=December 23, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211223211941/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/23/technology/amazon-labor-deal.html|url-status=live}}

In 2000, the Communications Workers of America and the United Food and Commercial Workers launched unionization drives for Amazon workers after a series of layoffs and a significant drop in employee stock options. In response, the company set up a section on its internal website advising managers on how to spot workers attempting to organize and how to convince them not to.{{Cite web|last=Greenhouse|first=Steven|date=November 29, 2000|title=Amazon.com Is Using the Web to Block Unions' Effort to Organize|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/11/29/business/amazoncom-is-using-the-web-to-block-unions-effort-to-organize.html|access-date=November 24, 2021 |newspaper=The New York Times |archive-date=November 24, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211124155434/https://www.nytimes.com/2000/11/29/business/amazoncom-is-using-the-web-to-block-unions-effort-to-organize.html|url-status=live}} A year later, 850 employees in Seattle were laid off by Amazon after a unionization drive. The Washington Alliance of Technology Workers (WashTech-CWA) accused the company of violating union laws and claimed that Amazon managers subjected them to intimidation and heavy propaganda. Amazon denied any connection between the unionization effort and the layoffs.{{cite web|last=Gumbel|first=Andrew|date=April 10, 2008|title=Short shrift for unions in Amazon's silicon jungle|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20010203/ai_n14364804|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080410033727/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20010203/ai_n14364804|archive-date=April 10, 2008|website=BNET.com|agency=Independent, The (London)}}File:East African worker protest against Amazon (31400933277).jpg, 2018]]

In 2018, the thousand plus Muslim and Somali migrant workforce at the Shakopee, Minnesota warehouse negotiated with Amazon for a lighter workload during the Ramadan fast. They were supported by the Awood Center, a worker center, backed by Service Employee International Union. It is the first time workers negotiated with Amazon.{{Cite news |last=Eidelson |first=Josh |last2=Soper |first2=Spencer |date=June 7, 2018 |title=Amazon Lets Muslim Workers Put Ramadan Before Prime Day |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-06-07/prime-day-ramadan-conflict-spurs-rare-amazon-worker-agitation |work=Bloomberg News}}{{Cite news |last=Weise |first=Karen |date=2018-11-20 |title=Somali Workers in Minnesota Force Amazon to Negotiate |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/20/technology/amazon-somali-workers-minnesota.html |access-date=2025-04-29 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}

When other businesses shut down during COVID-19 pandemic safety measures, the welfare and salary of workers ensuring the delivery of goods, including Amazon's labor, received renewed attention.{{r|NYT Alabama near vote}} Amazon workers, amid increased demand, advocated for pay increases and safety measures through work stoppage including walkouts and not appearing for work.{{r|Verge coronavirus}} Amazon increased pay for warehouse, transportation, delivery, and store workers and increased paid time off. Some workers described these concessions as a minimum for convincing employees to risk working during the pandemic.{{r|WSJ struggle}} Amazon responded to worker activism by increasing anti-union propaganda, firing organizers, hiring Pinkertons, and surveilling its workers.{{r|SolonGlaser}} In December 2020, the National Labor Relations Board found merit to a complaint that a Staten Island warehouse worker's firing was an illegal retaliation for organizing for pandemic safety procedure.{{r|NYT Alabama near vote}}

Technical Amazon workers held the company's first unionization vote in the United States in January 2014, which failed 21 to 6. The NLRB held the vote following a December petition from International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers on behalf of 30 Amazon warehouse maintenance and repair workers in Middletown, Delaware.{{cite news |last1=Greenhouse |first1=Steven |date=January 16, 2014 |title=Workers at an Amazon Warehouse Reject Forming a Union |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/16/business/workers-at-an-amazon-warehouse-reject-forming-a-union.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201224121520/https://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/16/business/workers-at-an-amazon-warehouse-reject-forming-a-union.html |archive-date=December 24, 2020 |access-date=December 31, 2020 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}

In 2016, Amazon stopped a unionization drive in Chester, Virginia. Organizers were derided as "a cancer" to the workplace and some human resources officials were accused of tracking employee positions on the drive. The union filed a complaint and Amazon settled with the National Labor Relations Board, agreeing to post notices but not having to concede legal violations or fines. Most of the union supporters left.{{cite news |last1=Sorkin |first1=Andrew Ross |last2=Karaian |first2=Jason |last3=Merced |first3=Michael J. de la |last4=Hirsch |first4=Lauren |last5=Livni |first5=Ephrat |date=March 16, 2021 |title='There Was No Mercy' |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/16/business/dealbook/amazon-unions-fight.html |url-status=live |access-date=August 30, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210830042334/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/16/business/dealbook/amazon-unions-fight.html |archive-date=August 30, 2021 |issn=0362-4331 }}

{{Anchor|Bessemer}}

File:President Biden Delivers Remarks to Workers.webm expressing support for unionization in Alabama, saying employers should use "no intimidation, no coercion, no threats, no anti-union propaganda."{{Cite web |last=Hamilton |first=Isobel Asher |title=Biden supports the historic Amazon worker union vote in Alabama, and demands 'no anti-union propaganda' |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-union-vote-alabama-union-bessemer-warehouse-joe-biden-unionization-2021-3 |date=March 1, 2021 |access-date=March 1, 2021 |website=Business Insider|archive-date=March 9, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210309142451/https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-union-vote-alabama-union-bessemer-warehouse-joe-biden-unionization-2021-3 |url-status=live }}]]

Workers have leaked Amazon manager training videos about discouraging labor organization. In response to changes following Amazon's 2017 acquisition of grocery Whole Foods, workers began to organize as "Whole Worker".{{cite news |last1=Sainato |first1=Michael |date=January 1, 2019 |title='We are not robots': Amazon warehouse employees push to unionize |url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/jan/01/amazon-fulfillment-center-warehouse-employees-union-new-york-minnesota |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111190759/https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/jan/01/amazon-fulfillment-center-warehouse-employees-union-new-york-minnesota |archive-date=November 11, 2020 |access-date=December 31, 2020 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}

The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union began to organize 2,500 workers from Amazon's Staten Island warehouse in December 2018, but this did not result in a union vote.{{cite news |last1=Kitroeff |first1=Natalie |date=February 15, 2019 |title=Amazon and New York Unions Had 'Productive Meeting,' Then Came a Shock |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/14/business/economy/amazon-union-cuomo.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210118011749/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/14/business/economy/amazon-union-cuomo.html |archive-date=January 18, 2021 |access-date=December 31, 2020 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}{{cite news |last1=Corkery |first1=Michael |last2=Weise |first2=Karen |date=December 22, 2020 |title=Amazon Workers Near Vote on Joining Union at Alabama Warehouse |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/22/business/amazon-union-vote-bessemer-alabama.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210101105105/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/22/business/amazon-union-vote-bessemer-alabama.html |archive-date=January 1, 2021 |access-date=December 31, 2020 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}

Amazon opened a fulfillment warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama, in March 2020. Within several months, Jennifer Bates,{{Cite magazine|last1=Bort|first1=Ryan|date=March 29, 2021|title=Jennifer Bates on Organizing Amazon's Alabama Union Drive and Taking on Jeff Bezos|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/jennifer-bates-amazon-union-organizer-interview-jeff-bezos-1147426/|access-date=February 17, 2022|magazine=Rolling Stone|language=en-US|archive-date=February 17, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220217000511/https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/jennifer-bates-amazon-union-organizer-interview-jeff-bezos-1147426/|url-status=live}} a warehouse worker at the facility, began leading workers in organizing to join the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU).{{r|Recode-mailbox}} Bessemer warehouse workers filed with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in November to hold a unionization vote. The bargaining unit was originally proposed as 1,500 full-time and part-time employees.{{cite news |last1=Greene |first1=Jay |title=Amazon warehouse workers in Alabama file to hold unionization vote |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=November 23, 2020 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/11/23/amazon-warehouse-workers-union/ |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286 |access-date=November 26, 2020 |archive-date=November 26, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201126181808/https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/11/23/amazon-warehouse-workers-union/ |url-status=live }} The workers, who are 85% Black, were inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement.{{Cite web |title=A union takes on a retail Goliath |work=The Week |date=March 7, 2021 |url=https://theweek.com/articles/970251/union-takes-retail-goliath |language=en |access-date=March 21, 2021 |archive-date=March 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210316084333/https://theweek.com/articles/970251/union-takes-retail-goliath |url-status=live }} Amazon fought the effort hard.{{r|Recode-mailbox}} The company retained anti-union lawyers Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, the same firm Amazon used to successfully fight the Delaware warehouse unionization effort in 2014.{{cite news |last1=Greene |first1=Jay |title=Amazon effort to thwart Alabama union drive suffers early defeat at labor board |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=December 2, 2020 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/12/02/amazon-union-vote-hearing/ |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286 |access-date=December 6, 2020 |archive-date=December 6, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201206082941/https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/12/02/amazon-union-vote-hearing/ |url-status=live }} The NLRB denied the company's request to delay initial hearings.{{r|WaPo: early defeat}} Amazon recommended expanding the bargaining unit to 5,700 workers, and in a three-day NLRB hearing, lawyers from Amazon and the union established a broader bargaining unit membership than originally proposed, including seasonal hires and on-site medical, safety, and training workers.{{r|CNBC: closer}} These were common tactics to discourage unionization, as a larger bargaining unit would dilute the union's penetration, having only organized a portion of the originally proposed, smaller unit.{{r|WaPo: early defeat}} The union accepted the expanded unit to let the vote proceed sooner.{{r|NYT Alabama near vote}} During the drive, Amazon held mandatory meetings to hear the company's anti-union position and hung signage to discourage unionization.{{r|SolonGlaser}}

The union drive received outward support from American politicians including U.S. Representatives Andy Levin, Jamaal Bowman, Cori Bush, Terri Sewell, Nikema Williams and US Senator Bernie Sanders, among many others. President Joe Biden alluded to the Alabama drive in a contemporaneous speech in support of unions.{{cite news |last1=Bose |first1=Daniel Medina, Nandita |title='No sense of job security': Amazon union organizers tell lawmakers in Alabama |work=Reuters |date=March 6, 2021 |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-amazon-labor-idUSKBN2AX19K |language=en |access-date=March 21, 2021 |archive-date=March 20, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210320092135/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-amazon-labor-idUSKBN2AX19K |url-status=live }} Biden gave stronger support than any president has given unions in decades, and labor activists said his advocacy would build his support in the working class, fighting off Republican inroads there.{{cite news |first=Sean |last=Sullivan |title=Biden took a chance in promoting the Amazon union push. What does its failure mean for him? |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/biden-union-amazon-failure/2021/04/09/1e1110f4-9945-11eb-a6d0-13d207aadb78_story.html |newspaper=Washington Post |date=April 10, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210414114642/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/biden-union-amazon-failure/2021/04/09/1e1110f4-9945-11eb-a6d0-13d207aadb78_story.html |archive-date=April 14, 2021 }} During the drive, the RWDSU reported interest from a thousand Amazon workers across the United States.{{Cite web |last1=Norman |first1=Greg |title=Union organizing Amazon Alabama employees sought by 1,000+ colleagues in other states |work=FOXBusiness |date=March 9, 2021 |url=https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/more-than-1000-amazon-workers-contact-union-involved-in-alabama-organizing-effort |language=en-US |access-date=March 21, 2021 |archive-date=March 21, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210321064405/https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/more-than-1000-amazon-workers-contact-union-involved-in-alabama-organizing-effort |url-status=live }}

Mail-in ballots were distributed on February 8, 2021, after the NLRB rejected Amazon's attempt to delay the vote.{{cite news|last=Slotkin|first=Jason|date=February 7, 2021|title=In Alabama, Workers At Amazon Warehouse Are Poised For Union Vote|work=National Public Radio |url=https://www.npr.org/2021/02/07/965162338/in-alabama-workers-at-amazon-warehouse-are-poised-for-union-vote|url-status=live|access-date=February 8, 2021|archive-date=February 8, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210208203346/https://www.npr.org/2021/02/07/965162338/in-alabama-workers-at-amazon-warehouse-are-poised-for-union-vote}} Ballots were due by March 29{{cite news|last=Dzieza|first=Josh|date=February 8, 2021|title=Alabama warehouse workers prepare to face down Amazon in union vote|work=The Verge|url=https://www.theverge.com/2021/2/8/22272213/amazon-union-bhm1-alabama-rwdsu-vote-begins|url-status=live|access-date=February 9, 2021|archive-date=February 8, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210208223633/https://www.theverge.com/2021/2/8/22272213/amazon-union-bhm1-alabama-rwdsu-vote-begins}} to be counted on April 8 and 9.{{Cite web |url=https://www.npr.org/2021/04/09/982139494/its-a-no-amazon-warehouse-workers-vote-against-unionizing-in-historic-election |date=April 9, 2021 |first=Alina |last=Selyukh |title=It's A No: Amazon Warehouse Workers Vote Against Unionizing In Historic Election |website=Morning Edition |publisher=NPR |access-date=April 9, 2021 |archive-date=April 9, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210409190915/https://www.npr.org/2021/04/09/982139494/its-a-no-amazon-warehouse-workers-vote-against-unionizing-in-historic-election |url-status=live }} The vast majority voted against unionization: 1,798 to 738. Of about 6,000 eligible employees, about 40% had participated. An additional 505 ballots were contested and left sealed, not being numerous enough in count to sway the final tally.{{r|Recode-mailbox}}

The RWDSU filed unfair labor practice charges against Amazon before the NLRB, alleging that the company interfered in employees' right to "vote in a free and fair election".{{Cite web|last=Del Rey|first=Jason|date=April 8, 2021|title=Amazon has won a historic warehouse union election. But the battle is not over.|url=https://www.vox.com/recode/2021/4/8/22362911/amazon-union-legal-challenge-alabama-vote-results-bessemer|url-status=live|access-date=April 10, 2021|website=Vox|language=en|archive-date=April 10, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210410022117/https://www.vox.com/recode/2021/4/8/22362911/amazon-union-legal-challenge-alabama-vote-results-bessemer}}{{cite news|last=Greene|first=Jay|title=Union appears headed toward defeat in Amazon vote in Alabama|language=en-US|newspaper=Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/04/08/amazon-bessemer-mailbox-union/|access-date=April 10, 2021|issn=0190-8286|archive-date=April 9, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210409122810/https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/04/08/amazon-bessemer-mailbox-union/ |date=April 8, 2021 |url-status=live}} Their largest contention concerned potential worker intimidation based on the location of a ballot box. Amazon originally proposed on-site ballot boxes, which the NLRB rejected as giving the appearance that Amazon controlled the vote and potentially intimidating workers to not oppose the company's position. Instead, the United States Postal Service (USPS) approved a mailbox in the Bessemer warehouse's parking lot. Top-level management from Amazon and USPS were involved in the request, as Amazon strongly wanted employees to use this mailbox. After the USPS denied Amazon permission to add signage to the mailbox itself, Amazon built a tent around the mailbox to add its own signage calling attention to the mailbox as a place to vote. Amazon intended the tent to protect voter privacy, but the parent union held that the tent made the mail-in vote appear to be under company surveillance and control, rather than by the independent NLRB. Separately, a pro-union employee{{ r | NPR_2021-11-29 }} testified to having seen company security guards open the mailbox. Amazon said their access was limited to incoming mailboxes. RWDSU had known about the mailbox in advance of the vote and chose to proceed. Former NLRB chair Wilma B. Liebman said that the mailbox contention is "strong grounds for overturning the election".{{Cite web |last1=Morrison |first1=Sara |title=How a mailbox could get the Amazon union vote overturned |work=Vox |date=May 21, 2021 |url=https://www.vox.com/recode/22446206/amazon-union-mailbox |language=en |access-date=June 18, 2021 |archive-date=June 2, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210602024844/https://www.vox.com/recode/22446206/amazon-union-mailbox |url-status=live }} Several Postal Service employees testified that Amazon had not been provided keys to the mailbox.{{ r | NPR_2021-11-29 }}

In August 2021, an NLRB report on the Bessemer union drive found that "a free and fair election was impossible" and that "possibility that the employer's misconduct influenced some of these 2,000 eligible voters [who did not vote]."{{Cite web|url=https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2021/08/amazons-anti-union-conduct-made-free-election-impossible-nlrb-officer-finds/ |first=Jon |last=Brodkin |work=Ars Technica |title=Amazon's anti-union conduct made free election "impossible," NLRB officer finds|date=August 3, 2021|access-date=November 24, 2021|archive-date=November 24, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211124155437/https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2021/08/amazons-anti-union-conduct-made-free-election-impossible-nlrb-officer-finds/|url-status=live}}

On November 29, 2021, a regional director of the National Labor Relations Board ordered a re-vote.{{cite news | url=https://www.npr.org/2021/11/29/1022384731/amazon-warehouse-workers-get-to-re-do-their-union-vote-in-alabama | title=Amazon warehouse workers get to re-do their union vote in Alabama | last=Selyukh | first=Alina | newspaper=NPR | date=November 29, 2021 | quote=Postal Service official Jay Smith, who works as a liaison for large clients like Amazon, testified that he was surprised to see the corporate-branded tent around the mailbox because the company appeared to have found a way around his explicit instructions to not place anything physically on the mailbox. But Smith and other Postal Service officials also testified that no one at Amazon has been provided keys to access the outgoing mail or, in this case, election ballots. A pro-union Amazon worker told the hearing that he saw corporate security officers opening the mailbox. | access-date=December 1, 2021 | archive-date=December 1, 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211201061438/https://www.npr.org/2021/11/29/1022384731/amazon-warehouse-workers-get-to-re-do-their-union-vote-in-alabama | url-status=live }} In March 2022, the warehouse voted for a second time, but the result was too close to call with more than 400 ballots being contested and 875-993 counted votes in favor of unionizing.{{Cite news |last=Hsu |first=Andrea |date=2022-03-31 |title=Do-over union election at Amazon's Bessemer warehouse is too close to call |language=en |work=npr |url=https://www.npr.org/2022/03/31/1090123017/do-over-union-election-at-amazons-bessemer-warehouse-is-too-close-to-call |access-date=2022-04-07 |archive-date=April 7, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220407180903/https://www.npr.org/2022/03/31/1090123017/do-over-union-election-at-amazons-bessemer-warehouse-is-too-close-to-call |url-status=live }}

In the first 12 months of the pandemic, 37 labor complaints were filed with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), more than triple the prior year and multiple cases involving labor organizers. One complaint concerned an employee who organized a walkout over pandemic working conditions in a Queens, New York, warehouse. The employee, Jonathan Bailey, a co-founder of Amazonians United, was interrogated and accused of harassment. The NLRB filed a federal complaint against Amazon after finding merit to the worker's claims of company retaliation for protected activities. In another case, the NLRB sided with a Pennsylvania warehouse worker who had lobbied for sick pay for part-time employees. She settled with Amazon and withdrew her complaint. The increase in cases reflects rising activism among Amazon warehouse workers.{{Cite web |last1=Solon |first1=Olivia |last2=Glaser |first2=April |date=March 30, 2021 |title=Amazon warehouse organizers allege year of retaliation |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/fired-interrogated-disciplined-amazon-warehouse-organizers-allege-year-retaliation-n1262367 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210607221642/https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/fired-interrogated-disciplined-amazon-warehouse-organizers-allege-year-retaliation-n1262367 |archive-date=June 7, 2021 |access-date=June 20, 2021 |work=NBC News |language=en}} The warehouse worker firings led to public acts of solidarity from some Amazon corporate employees. Emily Cunningham and Maren Costa, both user experience designers, were fired for violating internal policies in April 2020, which the NLRB later determined had been unlawful resulting in a board settlement involving back pay and notice-posting around employees' right to organize.{{Cite news |last=Weise |first=Karen |date=September 29, 2021 |title=Amazon settles with activist workers who say they were illegally fired. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/29/technology/amazon-fired-workers-settlement.html |access-date=March 12, 2022 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=March 12, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220312021739/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/29/technology/amazon-fired-workers-settlement.html |url-status=live }} Tim Bray, a vice president of Amazon Web Services resigned in response based on the handling of their case.{{r|SolonGlaser}}

{{Excerpt|Amazon Labor Union}}

Amazon's 158,000 DSP drivers are subcontracted across 2,500 companies spanning eight countries, such that Amazon can drop any one provider whose workers unionize. One DSP provider's Michigan office closed within a month of its workers voting to organize in 2017. Amazon supplies subcontracted companies with financing and surveillance technology to track driver movements in real time. The subcontracted companies, in turn, handle workplace management and liability, insulating Amazon.{{cite magazine |last1=Harrington |first1=Caitlin |title=Some Amazon Drivers Have Had Enough. Can They Unionize? |magazine=Wired |date=March 19, 2021 |url=https://www.wired.com/story/some-amazon-drivers-have-had-enough-can-they-unionize/ |language=en-us |issn=1059-1028 |access-date=March 21, 2021 |archive-date=March 20, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210320054515/https://www.wired.com/story/some-amazon-drivers-have-had-enough-can-they-unionize/ |url-status=live }} After the Michigan example, Amazon advised other DSP firms on how to avoid union drives, which proved successful through early 2021. The Bessemer union drive inspired a peer-organized poll of Amazon delivery drivers (Delivery Service Partners, or DSP), in which the vast majority of its 500 respondents showed interest in unionizing. {{r|enough}}{{Cite web |last1=O'Donovan |first1=Caroline |last2=Bensinger |first2=Ken |title=The Cost of Next-Day Delivery: How Amazon Escapes The Blame For Its Deadly Last Mile |work=BuzzFeed News |date=August 31, 2019 |url=https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/carolineodonovan/amazon-next-day-delivery-deaths |language=en |access-date=March 21, 2021 |archive-date=March 20, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210320022032/https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/carolineodonovan/amazon-next-day-delivery-deaths |url-status=live }}

Following the failed drive, the major labor union Teamsters resolved with near unanimity in their June 2021 Teamsters convention to organize Amazon warehouse and delivery workers as a central focus.{{cite news |last1=Herrera |first1=Sebastian |date=June 24, 2021 |title=Teamsters Union Votes to Help Organize Amazon Workers |language=en-US |work=Wall Street Journal |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/teamsters-union-votes-to-help-organize-amazon-workers-11624558332 |url-status=live |access-date=July 14, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210714073257/https://www.wsj.com/articles/teamsters-union-votes-to-help-organize-amazon-workers-11624558332 |archive-date=July 14, 2021 |issn=0099-9660 }}{{Cite web |last=Bidar |first=Musadiq |date=June 24, 2021 |title=Teamsters vow to unionize Amazon from "coast to coast" |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/amazon-union-teamsters-organizing-power/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210714155212/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/amazon-union-teamsters-organizing-power/ |archive-date=July 14, 2021 |access-date=July 14, 2021 |website=CBS News |language=en-US}}

In April 2023, 84 drivers were voluntarily recognized by Battle Tested Strategies (BTS), a DPS contractor in Palmdale, California. Shortly after, on 28 April, they ratified their first collective bargaining agreement, which would raise their wages from $19.75 an hour to $30 in September. However, BTS's contract with Amazon expires in October. At stake is the question whether Amazon is a joint employer or not.{{Cite news |last1=Gurley |first1=Lauren Kaori |last2=O'Donovan |first2=Caroline |date=2023-04-24 |title=Amazon delivery firm allows its drivers to unionize with the Teamsters |language=en-US |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/04/24/amazon-teamsters-delivery-union/ |access-date=2023-07-02 |issn=0190-8286}}{{Cite web |last=Molla |first=Rani |date=2023-04-27 |title=An Amazon union just won a $30 an hour contract |url=https://www.vox.com/technology/2023/4/27/23667968/amazon-contractor-delivery-union-teamsters |access-date=2023-07-02 |website=Vox |language=en}}

Teamsters-affiliated Amazon delivery drivers went on strike at nine locations across the United States during the 2024 holiday season.{{Cite web |last1=Mena |first1=Bryan |title=The strike against Amazon is over but Teamsters warn: 'Stay tuned' |work=CNN |date=2024-12-26 |url=https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/26/business/amazon-strike-teamsters-warning/index.html |language=en |access-date=2025-01-21 |df=mdy-all }}

In 2022, an Amazon Fresh store in Seattle, Washington formed an independent union and declared themselves to be a union to their management. Amazon Workers United have not petitioned for recognition with the NLRB.{{Cite web |last=Rosenblat |first=Lauren |date=March 7, 2022 |title=New kind of union forming at Seattle Amazon Fresh stores: It all started at the hot-food bar |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/business/amazon/a-new-kind-of-union-is-forming-at-amazon-fresh-stores-in-seattle/ |access-date=March 9, 2022 |website=The Seattle Times |language=en-US |archive-date=March 9, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220309021335/https://www.seattletimes.com/business/amazon/a-new-kind-of-union-is-forming-at-amazon-fresh-stores-in-seattle/ |url-status=live }}

In mid-2018, the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Canada filed a complaint against Amazon with the Ontario Labour Relations Board, accusing the company of having fired delivery drivers for attempting to launch a unionization drive.{{cite news |date=January 30, 2019 |title=Labour complaint against Amazon Canada alleges workers who tried to unionize were fired |work=CBC News |agency=The Canadian Press |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/amazon-canada-labour-complaint-1.4998744 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211124190816/https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/amazon-canada-labour-complaint-1.4998744 |archive-date=November 24, 2021}}

In mid-September 2021, workers at an Amazon warehouse in Nisku, Alberta, filed for a unionization vote with the Alberta Labour Relations Board.{{cite news |last=Stephenson |first=Amanda |date=September 14, 2021 |title=Teamsters to hold unionization vote at Amazon warehouse in Alberta |work=CBC News |agency=The Canadian Press |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/alberta-amazon-union-vote-1.6175177 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211124190817/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/alberta-amazon-union-vote-1.6175177 |archive-date=November 24, 2021}} A few days later, the Teamsters Union launched unionization drives in nine Amazon warehouses across Canada.{{Cite news |last1=Love |first1=Julia |last2=Warburton |first2=Moira |date=September 17, 2021 |title=EXCLUSIVE Amazon faces Teamsters union drive at nine Canadian sites |newspaper=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/technology/exclusive-teamsters-organizing-workers-unions-9-amazoncom-facilities-canada-2021-09-17/ |url-status=live |access-date=November 24, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211124190816/https://www.reuters.com/technology/exclusive-teamsters-organizing-workers-unions-9-amazoncom-facilities-canada-2021-09-17/ |archive-date=November 24, 2021}}{{Cite web |title=Amazon Workers in Canada Are Getting Organized |url=https://jacobinmag.com/2021/10/canada-amazon-workers-union-organizing-labor-covid-19-teamsters |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211124190817/https://jacobinmag.com/2021/10/canada-amazon-workers-union-organizing-labor-covid-19-teamsters |archive-date=November 24, 2021 |access-date=November 24, 2021 |work=Jacobin }}

In 2022, a unionization process of the YUL2 warehouse in Montreal was launched.{{Cite web |last=ICI.Radio-Canada.ca |first=Zone Économie- |date=2024-02-10 |title=Syndicalisation : le cas d’Amazon porté devant le Tribunal administratif du travail |url=https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/2048301/amazon-entrepot-montreal-syndicalisation-syndicats-tat |access-date=2025-01-22 |website=Radio-Canada |language=fr-ca}} Amazon tried to resist the process and in February 2024 the union filed a complaint against Amazon at the Tribunal administratif du travail du Québec. The arbitrator found Amazon to be at fault in their methods.{{Cite web |last=Ellfsen |first=Henrik |date=2024-07-31 |year=2024 |title=Syndicat des travailleuses et travailleurs d'Amazon Montréal - CSN /Montreal Amazon Workers Union - CSN c. Amazon Canada Fulfillment Services, 2024 QCTAT 2716 (CanLII) |url=https://www.canlii.org/fr/qc/qctat/doc/2024/2024qctat2716/2024qctat2716.html |access-date=2025-01-22 |website=CanLII}} In April 2024, a union under the Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN) submitted an accreditation request to represent the employees of the DXT4 warehouse in Laval, Quebec.{{Cite web |last=ICI.Radio-Canada.ca |first=Zone Économie- |date=2024-04-22 |title=Première étape vers la création d’un syndicat dans un entrepôt d’Amazon au Canada |url=https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/2066691/premiere-etape-creation-syndicat-entrepot-amazon-canada |access-date=2025-01-22 |website=Radio-Canada |language=fr-ca}} In May 2024, the DXT4 warehouse union received accreditation to represent the workers, making it the first Amazon union in Canada.{{Cite web |last=ICI.Radio-Canada.ca |first=Zone Économie- |date=2024-05-13 |title=Un premier syndicat dans un entrepôt d’Amazon voit le jour au Canada |url=https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/2072208/syndicat-entrepot-amazon-laval-canada |access-date=2025-01-22 |website=Radio-Canada |language=fr-ca}} In June of the same year, the union was ready to negotiate and its members were waiting for Amazon to respond to their request.{{Cite web |last=ICI.Radio-Canada.ca |first=Zone Économie- |date=2024-06-25 |title=Le nouveau syndicat d’Amazon à Laval prêt à négocier |url=https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/2083123/amazon-laval-syndicat-negociations |access-date=2025-01-22 |website=Radio-Canada |language=fr-ca}}

On January 22, 2025, Amazon announced the closure of all warehouses in the province of Quebec as of February 8, 2025.{{Cite news |last=Lapierre |first=Matthew |date=2025-01-22 |title=Amazon to close Quebec facilities, insists it's not because of new union |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/amazon-warehouse-closures-quebec-1.7438078 |access-date=2025-01-22 |work=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC)}} While the announcement maintained that the decision was a cost-saving measure unrelated the unionization of the DXT4 warehouse, other media received information that it was a factor.{{Cite web |last=ICI.Radio-Canada.ca |first=Zone Économie- |date=2025-01-22 |title=Amazon cessera ses activités au Québec « dans les deux prochains mois » |url=https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/2134596/amazon-entrepots-quebec-arret-activites-syndicat |access-date=2025-01-22 |website=Radio-Canada |language=fr-ca}} Following its decision to close the seven facilities, laying off more than 1,700 employees, Amazon said it would return to the subcontracted delivery model it used prior to 2020.{{cite web |last1=Lapierre |first1=Matthew |title=Amazon to close Quebec facilities, insists it's not because of new union |url=https://www.cbc.ca/1.7438078 |website=CBC News |access-date=22 January 2025}} Université de Montréal professor Mélanie Laroche stated that Quebec's labor laws, which require a collective bargaining agreement be negotiated and impose binding arbitration, are much more restrictive for businesses than laws in other provinces.{{ r | CBC_2025-01-22 }} After the announcement, minister of Innovation, Science and Industry François-Philippe Champagne stated that the decision was incompatible with valuing Canadian workers.{{cite web |last1=Lau |first1=Rachel |title=Canadian government may review relationship with Amazon following Quebec closures |url=https://www.ctvnews.ca/montreal/article/federal-government-may-review-relationship-with-amazon-following-quebec-closures/ |website=CTV News |access-date=24 January 2025}} Retail expert and researcher Jacques Nantel believes that Amazon's timing was "certainly not a coincidence" and supports a boycott.{{cite web |last1=Gilmour |first1=Matt |title=Calls for Amazon boycott grow after online retail giant pulls out of Quebec |url=https://www.ctvnews.ca/montreal/article/calls-for-amazon-boycott-grow-after-online-retail-giant-pulls-out-of-quebec/ |website=CTV News |access-date=24 January 2025}} The action prompted comparisons to Walmart Canada's 2004 response to unionization as the company was fined at the time for violating the Quebec Labour Code.{{cite web |title=Amazon to close 7 warehouses in the Canadian province of Quebec and eliminate 1,700 jobs |url=https://japantoday.com/category/business/amazon-to-close-7-warehouses-in-the-canadian-province-of-quebec-and-eliminate-1-700-jobs |website=Japan Today |access-date=24 January 2025}} The legislation makes it illegal to retaliate against workers for unionizing by cutting their positions.{{cite web |last1=Subramaniai |first1=Vanmala |title=In Quebec, an Amazon union push gets snuffed out |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-amazon-quebec-layoffs-union-push-snuffed-out/ |website=The Globe and Mail |access-date=25 January 2025}}

Some Amazon warehouses in Europe are unionized,{{r|CNBC: closer}} with strikes being most frequent in Germany, Italy, Poland, France and Spain.{{Rp|page=218}} In May 2022, after 4 years of negotiations, 35 employee representatives across Europe and Amazon management established a European Works Council.{{Cite news |date=May 12, 2022 |title=Amazon has a European Works Council, despite management - UNI Europa |language=en |work=UNI Global Union |url=https://www.uni-europa.org/news/amazon-has-a-european-works-council-despite-management/ |access-date=2022-05-19 |archive-date=August 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220806033756/https://www.uni-europa.org/news/amazon-has-a-european-works-council-despite-management/ |url-status=live }}

Amazon and other American technology companies with philosophies against organized labor are often scrutinized for operating counter to European norms. European criticism of Amazon's labor practices exceeds that of its practices in the United States.{{r|Walker|UNI}} Members of the European Parliament have also criticized Amazon's treatment of European worker organizations. In 2021, the European Parliament asked Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos to testify on issues of workers' rights and unions. Amazon employed an intelligence team to monitor its European warehouse employees.{{Cite web |last1=Gurley |first1=Lauren Kaori |title=European Lawmakers Ask Jeff Bezos to Testify About Union-Busting |work=Vice Motherboard |date=May 11, 2021 |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/european-lawmakers-ask-jeff-bezos-to-testify-about-union-busting/ |language=en |access-date=June 18, 2021 |archive-date=May 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210512074218/https://www.vice.com/en/article/y3dvm7/european-lawmakers-ask-jeff-bezos-to-testify-about-union-busting |url-status=live }}

Inspired by the 2013 German strikes, 3 French trade unions CGT, FO and Solidaires (SUD) called for industrial strikes at the Saran Amazon location in June 2014.{{Rp|pages=216–217}}

In France during the COVID-19 pandemic, unions were involved in setting the terms of warehouse workers returning to work, including pandemic protections for workers, following a month-long dispute. Those who volunteered to return sooner, in a reduced capacity, received bonus pay and a reduced work day.{{cite news |last1=Rosemain |first1=Mathieu |title=Amazon's French warehouses to reopen with 30% staff – unions |work=Reuters |date=May 18, 2020 |url=https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-health-coronavirus-amazon-france-idUKKBN22U27Q |language=en |access-date=January 1, 2021 |archive-date=August 20, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200820211640/https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-health-coronavirus-amazon-france-idUKKBN22U27Q |url-status=dead }}

Germany is Amazon's largest market outside of the United States as of 2019.{{Cite web|last=Dobush|first=Grace|date=July 11, 2018|title=How Amazon is steamrolling Germany's retail market|url=https://www.handelsblatt.com/english/companies/e-commerce-how-amazon-is-steamrolling-germanys-retail-market/23625508.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111231924/https://www.handelsblatt.com/english/companies/e-commerce-how-amazon-is-steamrolling-germanys-retail-market/23625508.html|archive-date=November 11, 2020|access-date=January 1, 2021|website=Handelsblatt|language=en}}{{Cite web|last=Mishra|first=Digbijay|date=August 29, 2019|title=In 4 years, India will be one of the biggest markets for Amazon – Latest News {{!}} Gadgets Now|url=https://www.gadgetsnow.com/tech-news/in-4-years-india-will-be-one-of-the-biggest-markets-for-amazon/articleshow/70892585.cms|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210116045649/https://www.gadgetsnow.com/tech-news/in-4-years-india-will-be-one-of-the-biggest-markets-for-amazon/articleshow/70892585.cms|archive-date=January 16, 2021|access-date=January 1, 2021|website=Gadget Now}} Amazon opened its first German logistics center in 1999 (FRA1) followed by FRA3 in 2009 in Bad Hersfeld.{{Cite web|title=Bad Hersfeld, Germany|url=https://jobs-us-east.amazon.com/en-gb/locations/bad-hersfeld-germany|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211114035705/https://jobs-us-east.amazon.com/en-gb/locations/bad-hersfeld-germany|archive-date=November 14, 2021|access-date=January 1, 2021|website=amazon.jobs|language=en}} Hundreds of Amazon warehouse workers in Leipzig and Bad Hersfeld, organized with the trade union Ver.di, went on strike in 2013 over their worker classifications and salaries. Amazon subsequently improved overtime schedules, break rooms, and introduced Christmas bonuses.{{cite news|last1=Wingfield|first1=Nick|last2=Eddy|first2=Melissa|date=August 4, 2013|title=In Germany, Union Culture Clashes With Amazon's Labor Practices|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/05/business/workers-of-amazon-divergent.html|url-status=live|access-date=December 31, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201224121533/https://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/05/business/workers-of-amazon-divergent.html|archive-date=December 24, 2020|issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite web|last=Le Blond|first=Josie|date=November 25, 2013|title=German Amazon workers strike in long-running dispute over pay|url=http://www.theguardian.com/business/2013/nov/25/german-amazon-employees-strike-pay|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210604162101/https://www.theguardian.com/business/2013/nov/25/german-amazon-employees-strike-pay|archive-date=June 4, 2021|access-date=January 1, 2021|website=The Guardian|language=en}}{{Cite web|last=Bryant|first=Chris|date=April 5, 2013|title=Amazon workers in Leipzig vote to strike|url=https://www.ft.com/content/8037a844-9de8-11e2-bea1-00144feabdc0|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180528040844/https://www.ft.com/content/8037a844-9de8-11e2-bea1-00144feabdc0|archive-date=May 28, 2018|access-date=January 1, 2021|website=Financial Times}} Amazon confirmed it would be opening three logistics centers in Poland.{{Cite news |title=Online retailer Amazon to open three facilities in Poland |date=October 7, 2013|url=https://www.dw.com/en/online-retailer-amazon-to-open-three-facilities-in-poland/a-17139649 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171012141137/http://www.dw.com/en/online-retailer-amazon-to-open-three-facilities-in-poland/a-17139649 |archive-date=October 12, 2017 |access-date=January 1, 2021 |website=Deutsche Welle|language=en-GB}}

Workers in multiple Amazon warehouses went on strike for better pay and working conditions during the company's June 2021 Prime Day.{{Cite web|date=June 7, 2021|title=Germany: Verdi calls on Amazon staff to strike for three days|url=https://www.dw.com/en/germany-verdi-calls-on-amazon-staff-to-strike-for-three-days/a-57977216|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210621112252/https://www.dw.com/en/germany-verdi-calls-on-amazon-staff-to-strike-for-three-days/a-57977216|archive-date=June 21, 2021|access-date=June 23, 2021|work=Deutsche Welle|language=en}}

Amazon uses support for works councils at its facilities, in part to negate the need for trade unions or collective bargaining. By promoting pro-management candidates in works council elections, Amazon is able to weaken trade union influence.{{Cite journal |last=Kassem |first=Sarrah |date=November 2022 |title=(Re)shaping Amazon labour struggles on both sides of the Atlantic: the power dynamics in Germany and the US amidst the pandemic |journal=Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research |language=en |volume=28 |issue=4 |pages=441–456 |doi=10.1177/10242589221149496 |issn=1024-2589 |pmc=10086604 |pmid=37063487}} Amazon legally structures each of its facilities as a separate legal entity so that regular local works councils can be established, but they are not part of a common legal entity, so no central works council can be established. Furthermore, because its European headquarters are located outside of Germany (in Belgium and Luxembourg), the group of German Amazon legal entities is also not eligible for representation by a group works council.{{Cite book |last1=Bowe |first1=Jörn |url=https://www.rosalux.de/fileadmin/rls_uploads/pdfs/Ausland/Europa-Nordamerika/The_long_struggle_of_the_Amazon_employees.pdf |title=The Long Struggle of the Amazon Employees |last2=Schulten |first2=Johannes |publisher=Rosa Luxemburg Foundation |year=2019 |edition=2nd |language=en}}{{Rp|page=21}}

Amazon opened its first Fulfillment Center in Piacenza, Italy in 2011.{{Cite press release |date=February 11, 2020|title=Amazon starts the year of its 10th anniversary in Italy by opening two new fulfillment centers that will create 1.400 permanent jobs|url=https://www.aboutamazon.eu/news/press-lounge/amazon-starts-the-year-of-its-10th-anniversary-in-italy-by-opening-two-new-fulfillment-centers-that-will-create-1-400-permanent-jobs |access-date=July 20, 2021|website=EU About Amazon|language=en|archive-date=July 20, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210720124242/https://www.aboutamazon.eu/press-release/amazon-starts-the-year-of-its-10th-anniversary-in-italy-by-opening-two-new-fulfillment-centers-that-will-create-1-400-permanent-jobs|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|last=Massimo|first=Francesco|date=March 23, 2021|title=Italy's Amazon Strike Shows How Workers Across the Supply Chain Can Unite|url=https://jacobinmag.com/2021/03/italy-nationwide-amazon-strike-march-22|url-status=live|access-date=July 20, 2021|website=Jacobin Magazine|language=en-US|archive-date=July 20, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210720124233/https://jacobinmag.com/2021/03/italy-nationwide-amazon-strike-march-22}} The first two industrial strikes happened later in 2017, which resulted in collective bargaining with Amazon management.{{Cite book|last=Massimo|first=Francesco|title=A Struggle for Bodies and Souls:: Amazon Management and Union Strategies in France and Italy|chapter=A Struggle for Bodies and Souls|date=2020|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv16zjhcj.15|work=The Cost of Free Shipping|pages=129–144|editor-last=Alimahomed-Wilson|editor-first=Jake|series=Amazon in the Global Economy|publisher=Pluto Press|doi=10.2307/j.ctv16zjhcj.15|jstor=j.ctv16zjhcj.15|isbn=978-0-7453-4148-4|s2cid=234670300|access-date=July 20, 2021|editor2-last=Reese|editor2-first=Ellen|archive-date=July 20, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210720124232/https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv16zjhcj.15|url-status=live}} One year later, the May 2018 collective bargaining agreement between Amazon and the Italian Federation of Commerce, Hotel and Service Workers (Filcams CGIL) trade union, with 70% of voters in favor, was the company's first collective agreement anywhere in the world.{{Cite web|last=Walker|first=Michael|title=Tech innovators start to see old-fashioned benefits of collective bargaining |date=July 19, 2018 |url=https://theconversation.com/tech-innovators-start-to-see-old-fashioned-benefits-of-collective-bargaining-100164|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191113223033/http://theconversation.com/tech-innovators-start-to-see-old-fashioned-benefits-of-collective-bargaining-100164|archive-date=November 13, 2019|access-date=January 1, 2021|website=The Conversation|language=en}}{{Cite web |date=May 25, 2018 |title=Historic agreement between Amazon and sector unions|url=https://www.uni-europa.org/2018/05/historic-agreement-between-amazon-and-sector-unions/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210212193443/https://www.uni-europa.org/2018/05/historic-agreement-between-amazon-and-sector-unions/|archive-date=February 12, 2021|access-date=January 1, 2021|website=UNI Global Union|language=en-GB}}

On March 22, 2021, Amazon workers across the supply chain organized the first nationwide strike in Amazon's history, including warehouse, logistics and subcontracted delivery workers.{{Cite news |date=March 22, 2021|title=Amazon workers in Italy go on strike |url=https://www.dw.com/en/amazon-workers-in-italy-go-on-strike/a-56954492|url-status=live|access-date=July 20, 2021|website=Deutsche Welle|language=en-GB|archive-date=July 20, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210720124233/https://www.dw.com/en/amazon-workers-in-italy-go-on-strike/a-56954492}}{{Cite web|last=Giuffrida|first=Angela|date=March 22, 2021|title=Italians urged to boycott Amazon to support day of strikes|url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/mar/22/italians-urged-to-refrain-from-buying-from-amazon-to-support-day-of-strikes|url-status=live|access-date=July 20, 2021|website=The Guardian|language=en|archive-date=June 8, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210608131553/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/mar/22/italians-urged-to-refrain-from-buying-from-amazon-to-support-day-of-strikes}}

Amazon opened its first logistics centers near the Polish cities Poznań and Wrocław in September 2014. While operating in Poland, they primarily serve foreign markets, notably Germany.{{Cite web|last=Ruckus|first=Ralf|date=March 31, 2016|title=Confronting Amazon|url=https://jacobinmag.com/2016/03/amazon-poland-poznan-strikes-workers|access-date=January 1, 2021|website=Jacobin Magazine|language=en-US|archive-date=January 10, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210110185442/https://www.jacobinmag.com/2016/03/amazon-poland-poznan-strikes-workers|url-status=live}} There are two trade unions involved in organizing Amazon workers. The more militant union Inicjatywa Pracownicza (Workers' Initiative) is active in Poznań. Workers' Initiative is criticized by the mainstream Polish union Solidarność (affiliated to UNI Global Union) as being 'too radical'.{{Rp|page=214}} During a strike in Germany in 2015, orders shifted and increased in Poland due to its geographic proximity. Several dozen workers in Poznań facility engaged in a work slowdown. Shortly afterwards, Amazon increased the hourly wage from 14 złoty to 15 złoty.{{Cite web|last=Amazon Workers and Supporters|date=June 20, 2018|title='Stop Treating Us Like Dogs!': Worker Resistance at Amazon in Poland|url=https://www.plutobooks.com/blog/worker-resistance-amazon-poland/|url-status=live|access-date=December 18, 2021|website=Pluto Press|language=en-US|archive-date=December 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211218213350/https://www.plutobooks.com/blog/worker-resistance-amazon-poland/}}

Amazon contractors of CEVA Logistics went on strike in Kocaeli, Turkey in June 2022 as part of the independent union DGD-Sen,{{Cite web |date=7 June 2022 |title=Amazon işçilerinden Kocaeli'nde eylem |trans-title=Action by Amazon workers in Kocaeli |url=https://www.cumhuriyet.com.tr/turkiye/amazon-iscilerinden-kocaelinde-eylem-1944604 |access-date=2023-02-18 |website=Cumhuriyet |language=tr}} and again in August 2022.{{Cite web |date=2022-08-29 |title=Reject, Resist, Organize. An Interview with Amazon Workers on Strike in Turkey - Transnational Social Strike Platform |url=https://www.transnational-strike.info/2022/08/29/resist-reject-organize-an-interview-with-amazon-workers-on-strike-in-turkey/ |access-date=2023-02-18 |website=TSS Platforms |language=en-US}}

File:Cyber Monday At Amazon HQ (49157331438).jpg protest organized by GMB outside Amazon's London HQ in 2019.]]

Amazon arrived in the UK in 1998.{{Cite web|title=History & Timeline {{!}} Amazon UK|url=https://amazonuk.gcs-web.com/history-timeline|access-date=July 21, 2021|website=amazonuk.gcs-web.com|language=en|archive-date=July 25, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210725005214/https://amazonuk.gcs-web.com/history-timeline|url-status=live}} It is the 2nd largest market in Europe after Germany.{{Citation|last1=Boewe|first1=Jörn|title=Amazon Strikes in Europe:: Seven Years of Industrial Action, Challenges, and Strategies|date=2020|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv16zjhcj.20|work=The Cost of Free Shipping|pages=209–224|editor-last=Alimahomed-Wilson|editor-first=Jake|series=Amazon in the Global Economy|publisher=Pluto Press|isbn=978-0-7453-4148-4|access-date=July 21, 2021|last2=Schulten|first2=Johannes|jstor=j.ctv16zjhcj.20|editor2-last=Reese|editor2-first=Ellen|archive-date=July 14, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210714155212/https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv16zjhcj.20|url-status=live}}{{Rp|pages=215–216}} In 2001, 80% of workers at the Milton Keynes Fulfillment Center (STN8) voted against unionizing with Graphical, Paper and Media Union (GPMU, now part of Unite the Union),{{Rp|pages=215–216}} which the union partly blames on union busting.{{Cite web|last=Maguire|first=Kevin|date=September 11, 2001|title=Amazon accused in row over ballot|url=http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2001/sep/11/news.tradeunions|url-status=live|access-date=July 21, 2021|website=The Guardian|language=en|archive-date=July 25, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210725093610/https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2001/sep/11/news.tradeunions}}{{Cite web|last=Bowers|first=Simon|date=July 1, 2014|title=Amazon's rise in Europe to be discussed by union leaders at Berlin meeting|url=http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/jul/01/amazon-rise-europe-discussed-union-leaders-berlin|url-status=live|access-date=July 21, 2021|website=The Guardian|language=en|archive-date=November 23, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181123052917/https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/jul/01/amazon-rise-europe-discussed-union-leaders-berlin}} Amazon.co.uk hired a US union busting consultancy organization The Burke Group to assist in defeating the union campaign.{{cite news|author=Henley|first1=Jon|last2=Pilkington|first2=Ed|date=February 26, 2008|title=Divide and rule|newspaper=The Guardian|location=London|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2008/feb/26/tradeunions.workandcareers|access-date=August 29, 2010|archive-date=November 9, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201109021246/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2008/feb/26/tradeunions.workandcareers|url-status=live}} GPMU alleged that the company victimized or sacked four union members during the 2001 recognition drive and held a series of captive meetings with employees.

Since 2020, GMB is the main union responsible for organizing Amazon warehouse workers in the UK.{{Rp|pages=215–216}} There was a worker walkout in a Tilbury fulfillment center in 2022 over compensation, as British workers face increased cost-of-living expenses.{{Cite news |title=Hundreds of Amazon warehouse workers walk out over pay, UK union says |work=Reuters |date=2022-08-04 |url=https://www.reuters.com/technology/amazon-workers-uk-warehouse-walk-out-over-pay-offer-union-says-2022-08-04/ |language=en |df=mdy-all |access-date=August 6, 2022 |archive-date=August 4, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220804164345/https://www.reuters.com/technology/amazon-workers-uk-warehouse-walk-out-over-pay-offer-union-says-2022-08-04/ |url-status=live }}

{{Ill|Amazon Japan|ja|Amazon.co.jp}} arrived in 2000 retains a quarter of the Japanese e-commerce market {{As of|2021|lc=y}}. In Japan it is possible, where two or more employees is sufficient to form a union. Some Amazon employees joined the Tokyo Managers Union ({{Langx|ja|東京管理職ユニオン|Tokyo Kanrishoku Union}}) in 2015. Dozens more have joined since, representing a minority of the thousands of corporate Amazon employees.{{Cite web |last=Ishibushi |first=Kaoruko |last2=Matsakis |first2=Louise |date=2021-04-27 |title=Union leaders in Japan say Amazon is weaponizing “performance improvement plans” to weed them out |url=https://restofworld.org/2021/tokyo-japan-amazon-union/ |access-date=2024-12-19 |website=Rest of World |language=en-US}}

Amazon employees have led tech worker activism on environmental issues.{{Cite web |last1=Calma |first1=Justine |title=Amazon workers demand company quit polluting near communities of color |work=The Verge |date=May 25, 2021 |url=https://www.theverge.com/2021/5/25/22453516/amazon-workers-pollution-petition-letter-demand |language=en |access-date=June 20, 2021 |archive-date=June 2, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210602063718/https://www.theverge.com/2021/5/25/22453516/amazon-workers-pollution-petition-letter-demand |url-status=live }}

For the company's 2019 annual general meeting (AGM), 28 Amazon employees filed a shareholder proposal asking the company to create a climate change plan; over 7,500 Amazon workers signed a letter in support of the proposals. Shareholders voted it down.{{Cite web |last1=Stewart |first1=Emily |title=8,000 Amazon employees asked the company to do more on climate change. Shareholders just said no. |work=Vox |date=May 22, 2019 |url=https://www.vox.com/recode/2019/5/22/18635604/amazon-shareholder-meeting-2019-climate-change-proposal |language=en |access-date=June 20, 2021 |archive-date=May 25, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210525223912/https://www.vox.com/recode/2019/5/22/18635604/amazon-shareholder-meeting-2019-climate-change-proposal |url-status=live }} In advance of a September 2019 tech industry walkout to protest inaction towards climate change, over 1,500 Amazon employees called for the company to commit to achieve zero emissions by 2030, among other asks. The day before the walkout, Amazon made a climate pledge which included being carbon neutral by 2040.{{Cite web |last=McLean |first=Jordan Valinsky, Nathaniel Meyersohn, Rob |date=2019-09-19 |title=1,000 Amazon employees plan walkout Friday, saying company's climate pledge isn't enough {{!}} CNN Business |url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/19/business/amazon-employee-climate-change-walkout/index.html |access-date=2023-02-18 |website=CNN |language=en}}

In response to reports in January 2020 that Amazon was threatening to fire some Amazon Employees for Climate Justice organizers for speaking publicly about the company's climate record, over 400 employees violated the communications policy in support of their colleagues.{{cite news |last1=Palmer |first1=Annie |title=Hundreds of Amazon employees risk firing to protest the company's climate policies |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/27/amazon-employees-protest-external-communications-policy.html |access-date=22 February 2023 |work=CNBC |date=January 27, 2020 |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Amazon Employees for Climate Justice |date=2020-02-19 |title=Amazon Employees Share Our Views on Company Business |url=https://amazonemployees4climatejustice.medium.com/amazon-employees-share-our-views-on-company-business-f5abcdea849 |access-date=2023-02-18 |website=Medium |language=en}} However, two of the organizers were fired in April 2020 for sharing a petition related to COVID-19 risks faced by warehouse workers. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) found that these firings were illegal and retaliatory.{{cite news |last1=Paul |first1=Kari |title=Amazon found to have illegally fired workers who advocated for Covid safety measures |url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/apr/05/amazon-illegally-fired-two-workers-pandemic |access-date=22 February 2023 |work=The Guardian |date=5 April 2021}}

Amazon workers again filed a shareholder proposal at the company's 2021 AGM asking the company to report on how pollution associated with its activities impacted communities of color. The company successfully petitioned the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to exclude the proposal from going to a shareholder vote. In response, over 600 employees signed a letter calling on the company to bring forward its net zero pledge to 2030, and to prioritize deploying zero emissions technologies in communities most impacted by its pollution.{{Cite web |title=Amazon workers demand end to pollution's hitting people of color hardest |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/amazon-shareholders-demand-end-pollution-hitting-people-color-hardest-n1268413 |access-date=2023-02-18 |website=NBC News |date=May 25, 2021 |language=en}}

File:International Day of Solidarity With Alabama Amazon Workers, Philadelphia PA -002.jpgAmazon has opposed efforts by workers to organize in trade unions in both the United States and the United Kingdom, and has actively engaged in union busting.{{Cite web|date=March 16, 2021|title=How Amazon Crushes Unions|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/16/technology/amazon-unions-virginia.html|last=Streitfeld|first=David|access-date=November 24, 2021|work=The New York Times|archive-date=March 21, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210321054150/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/16/technology/amazon-unions-virginia.html|url-status=live}}{{Cite journal|last=Logan|first=John|date=September 1, 2021|title=Crushing Unions, by Any Means Necessary: How Amazon's Blistering Anti-Union Campaign Won in Bessemer, Alabama|url=https://doi.org/10.1177/10957960211035082|journal=New Labor Forum|language=en|volume=30|issue=3|pages=38–45|doi=10.1177/10957960211035082|s2cid=237517912|issn=1095-7960|access-date=November 24, 2021|archive-date=February 24, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220224220102/https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/10957960211035082|url-status=live|url-access=subscription}}{{Cite web|date=February 17, 2021|title=Amazon changed traffic light timing during union drive, county officials say|url=https://www.theverge.com/2021/2/17/22287191/amazon-alabama-warehouse-union-traffic-light-change-bessemer|last=Brandom|first=Russell|access-date=November 24, 2021|work=The Verge|archive-date=November 24, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211124155436/https://www.theverge.com/2021/2/17/22287191/amazon-alabama-warehouse-union-traffic-light-change-bessemer|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|date=November 10, 2018|title=Organising Amazon|url=https://tribunemag.co.uk/2018/11/organising-amazon|last=Barnett|first=Marcus|access-date=November 24, 2021|work=Tribune|archive-date=November 24, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211124155436/https://tribunemag.co.uk/2018/11/organising-amazon|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|date=October 21, 2021|title=Workers pushing to unionize Amazon say they faced retaliation and unfair tactics|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/amazon-workers-delivery-drivers-unionize-1.6215475|last=Kelley|first=Mark|access-date=November 24, 2021|work=CBC News|archive-date=November 24, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211124155433/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/amazon-workers-delivery-drivers-unionize-1.6215475|url-status=live}} Unite the Union has stated that Amazon workers "are not currently free to join a union without fear and without obstruction and propaganda being deployed against them."{{Cite web|date=April 25, 2021|title=Amazon 'must let workers join unions without fear'|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/business-56881547|last=|first=|access-date=November 24, 2021|work=BBC|archive-date=November 30, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211130190452/https://www.bbc.com/news/business-56881547|url-status=live}} In September 2020, 37 European trade unions co-signed an open letter calling for the European Commission to investigate Amazon, saying the company "has led the raid on workers' rights, using its data-monopoly power to crush efforts by workers to improve their conditions. Now it is ramping up its espionage operations".{{Cite web|date=September 30, 2020|title=Trade unions urge EU to investigate Amazon effort to spy on workers|url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/sep/30/trade-unions-urge-eu-to-investigate-amazon-effort-to-spy-on-workers|last=Kollewe|first=Julia|access-date=November 24, 2021|work=The Guardian|archive-date=November 24, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211124155435/https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/sep/30/trade-unions-urge-eu-to-investigate-amazon-effort-to-spy-on-workers|url-status=live}}

Alessandro Delfanti of the University of Toronto has said that "something all Amazon workplaces have in common is the corporation's resistance to workplace democracy," pointing to the company's extremely high turnover rate, mass surveillance of workers, and accusations of firing workers attempting to lead unionization drives.{{cite book |last1=Delfanti |first1=Alessandro |title=The Warehouse: Workers and Robots at Amazon |date=2021 |publisher=Pluto Press |location=London |isbn=9780745342177}}{{Cite web|date=November 17, 2021|title=How Amazon sabotages union organising in its warehouses|url=https://www.huckmag.com/perspectives/how-amazon-sabotages-union-organising-in-its-warehouses/|last=Craig|first=Robin|access-date=November 24, 2021|work=Huck|archive-date=November 24, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211124155435/https://www.huckmag.com/perspectives/how-amazon-sabotages-union-organising-in-its-warehouses/|url-status=live}} In late-2020, Motherboard reported that Amazon monitored environmental and social justice groups, and that:

"Internal emails sent to Amazon's Global Security Operations Center obtained by Motherboard reveal that all the division's team members around the world receive updates on labor organizing activities at warehouses that include the exact date, time, location, the source who reported the action, the number of participants at an event (and in some cases a turnout rate of those expected to participate in a labor action), and a description of what happened, such as a "strike" or "the distribution of leaflets." Other documents reveal that Amazon intelligence analysts keep close tabs on how many warehouse workers attend union meetings; specific worker dissatisfaction with warehouse conditions, such as excessive workloads; and cases of warehouse-worker theft, from a bottle of tequila to $15,000 worth of smart watches".{{Cite web|date=23 November 2020|title=Secret Amazon Reports Expose the Company's Surveillance of Labor and Environmental Groups|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/amazon-leaked-reports-expose-spying-warehouse-workers-labor-union-environmental-groups-social-movements/|last=Gurley|first=Lauren Kaori|access-date=24 November 2021|work=Motherboard|archive-date=November 23, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201123232007/https://www.vice.com/en/article/5dp3yn/amazon-leaked-reports-expose-spying-warehouse-workers-labor-union-environmental-groups-social-movements|url-status=live}}

File:Organize Amazon Workers contingent in Peoplehood Parade, Philadelphia, PA-002.jpgAmazon has also hired anti-union organizations to help stop unionization drives and private detective agencies such as Pinkerton to infiltrate its warehouses.{{Cite web|date=February 10, 2021|title=Amazon Hired Koch-Backed Anti-Union Consultant to Fight Alabama Warehouse Organizing|url=https://theintercept.com/2021/02/10/amazon-alabama-union-busting-koch/|last=Fang|first=Lee|access-date=November 24, 2021|work=The Intercept|archive-date=November 24, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211124155435/https://theintercept.com/2021/02/10/amazon-alabama-union-busting-koch/|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|date=November 23, 2020|title=Amazon is using union-busting Pinkerton spies to track warehouse workers and labor movements at the company, according to a new report|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-pinkerton-spies-worker-labor-unions-2020-11|last=Canales|first=Katie|access-date=November 24, 2021|work=Business Insider|archive-date=October 19, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211019200259/https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-pinkerton-spies-worker-labor-unions-2020-11|url-status=live}} The company has also run social media campaigns using fake accounts to spread anti-union messaging.{{Cite web|date=March 30, 2021|title='Fake' Amazon workers defend company on Twitter|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-56581266 |access-date=November 24, 2021|work=BBC|archive-date=November 25, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211125155042/https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-56581266|url-status=live}} Amazon forced employees to attend captive audience meetings that contained anti-union messages.{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/amazons-captive-staff-meetings-unions-illegal-us-labor-director-finds-2022-05-06/ |title=Amazon's captive staff meetings on unions illegal, labor board official finds |first=Jeffrey |last=Dastin |date=May 7, 2022 |access-date=June 29, 2022 |work=Reuters |archive-date=June 28, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220628195318/https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/amazons-captive-staff-meetings-unions-illegal-us-labor-director-finds-2022-05-06/ |url-status=live }}

An Amazon training video that was leaked in 2018 stated "We are not anti-union, but we are not neutral either. We do not believe unions are in the best interest of our customers or shareholders or most importantly, our associates".{{cite web|url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/04/02/amazon_coronavirus_firing/|title=Amazon says it fired a guy for breaking pandemic rules. Same guy who organized a staff protest over a lack of coronavirus protection|first=Thomas|last=Claburn|publisher=The Register|date=April 2, 2020|access-date=April 2, 2020|archive-date=October 31, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201031231943/https://www.theregister.com/2020/04/02/amazon_coronavirus_firing/|url-status=live}} Two years later, it was found that Whole Foods was using a heat map to track which of its 510 stores had the highest levels of pro-union sentiment. Factors including racial diversity, proximity to other unions, poverty levels in the surrounding community and calls to the National Labor Relations Board were named as contributors to "unionization risk".{{cite web|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/whole-foods-tracks-unionization-risk-with-heat-map-2020-1?r=US&IR=T|title=Amazon-owned Whole Foods is quietly tracking its employees with a heat map tool that ranks which stores are most at risk of unionizing|first=Hayley|last=Peterson|publisher=Business Insider|date=April 20, 2020|access-date=April 21, 2020|archive-date=December 16, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201216204639/https://www.businessinsider.com/whole-foods-tracks-unionization-risk-with-heat-map-2020-1?r=US&IR=T|url-status=live}} Data collected in the heat map suggest that stores with low racial and ethnic diversity, especially those located in poor communities, are more likely to unionize. Amazon also had a job listing for an Intelligence Analyst, whose role it would be to identify and tackle threats to Amazon, which included unions and organized labor.{{cite news|url=https://www.zdnet.com/article/amazon-is-hiring-intelligence-analysts-to-watch-organized-labor-hostile-political-leaders-more/|title=Amazon is hiring intelligence analysts to watch organized labor, hostile political leaders, more|first=Catalin|last=Cimpanu|publisher=ZD Net|date=September 1, 2020|access-date=November 24, 2021|archive-date=November 24, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211124155436/https://www.zdnet.com/article/amazon-is-hiring-intelligence-analysts-to-watch-organized-labor-hostile-political-leaders-more/|url-status=live}}{{cite news |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/01/amazon-seeks-intelligence-analyst-to-track-labor-organizing-threats.html |title=Amazon deletes job listings for analysts to track 'labor organizing threats' following public outcry |first=Annie |last=Palmer |date=September 1, 2020 |publisher=CNBC |access-date=November 24, 2021 |archive-date=November 24, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211124155436/https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/01/amazon-seeks-intelligence-analyst-to-track-labor-organizing-threats.html |url-status=live }}

{{reflist}}

{{Refbegin}}

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• {{Cite web |last1=Coldewey |first1=Devin |title=Amazon warehouse workers organized to demand PTO, and coronavirus clinched it |work=TechCrunch |date=March 24, 2020 |url=https://techcrunch.com/2020/03/24/amazon-warehouse-workers-organized-to-demand-pto-and-coronavirus-clinched-it/ |language=en-US |access-date=May 30, 2020 |archive-date=May 8, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200508024506/https://techcrunch.com/2020/03/24/amazon-warehouse-workers-organized-to-demand-pto-and-coronavirus-clinched-it/ |url-status=live }}
• {{Cite web |last1=Cox |first1=Kate |title=Amazon deletes anti-union listing, watches workers' 'secret' social groups |work=Ars Technica |date=September 2, 2020 |url=https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2020/09/amazon-deletes-anti-union-listing-watches-workers-secret-social-groups/ |language=en-us |access-date=September 20, 2020 |archive-date=September 26, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200926042709/https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2020/09/amazon-deletes-anti-union-listing-watches-workers-secret-social-groups/ |url-status=live }}
• {{Cite web |last1=Dickey |first1=Megan Rose |title=Amazon worker-activists form international organization to demand change in warehouses |work=TechCrunch |date=April 30, 2020 |url=https://techcrunch.com/2020/04/30/amazon-warehouse-worker-activists-form-international-organization-to-demand-change/ |language=en-US |access-date=May 30, 2020 |archive-date=May 12, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200512173951/https://techcrunch.com/2020/04/30/amazon-warehouse-worker-activists-form-international-organization-to-demand-change/ |url-status=live }}
• {{Cite web |last1=Galiz-Rowe |first1=Ty |title=Amazon Has Deleted Job Listing For Union-Busting Roles |work=GameSpot |date=September 2, 2020 |url=https://www.gamespot.com/articles/amazon-has-deleted-job-listing-for-union-busting-r/1100-6481741/ |language=en-US |access-date=September 20, 2020 |archive-date=September 3, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200903070012/https://www.gamespot.com/articles/amazon-has-deleted-job-listing-for-union-busting-r/1100-6481741/ |url-status=live }}
• {{Cite web |last1=Ghaffary |first1=Shirin |title=The May Day strike from Amazon, Instacart, and Target workers didn't stop business. It was still a success. |work=Vox |date=May 1, 2020 |url=https://www.vox.com/recode/2020/5/1/21244151/may-day-strike-amazon-instacart-target-success-turnout-fedex-protest-essential-workers-chris-smalls |language=en |access-date=May 3, 2020 |archive-date=May 3, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200503014937/https://www.vox.com/recode/2020/5/1/21244151/may-day-strike-amazon-instacart-target-success-turnout-fedex-protest-essential-workers-chris-smalls |url-status=live }}
• {{cite news |last1=Greene |first1=Jay |title=Amazon's anti-union blitz stalks Alabama warehouse workers everywhere, even the bathroom |newspaper=Washington Post |date=February 2, 2021 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/02/02/amazon-union-warehouse-workers/ |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286 |access-date=February 22, 2021 |archive-date=February 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210228011950/https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/02/02/amazon-union-warehouse-workers/ |url-status=live }}
• {{Cite web |last1=Gurley |first1=Lauren Kaori |title=Secret Amazon Reports Expose Company Spying on Labor, Environmental Groups |work=Vice |date=November 23, 2020 |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/amazon-leaked-reports-expose-spying-warehouse-workers-labor-union-environmental-groups-social-movements/ |language=en |access-date=November 24, 2020 |archive-date=November 23, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201123232007/https://www.vice.com/en/article/5dp3yn/amazon-leaked-reports-expose-spying-warehouse-workers-labor-union-environmental-groups-social-movements |url-status=live }}
• {{Cite web |last1=Heater |first1=Brian |last2=Dickey |first2=Megan Rose |title=Amazon warehouse workers to begin historic vote to unionize |work=TechCrunch |date=February 7, 2021 |url=https://techcrunch.com/2021/02/07/amazon-warehouse-workers-begin-historic-vote-to-unionize/ |language=en-US |access-date=February 22, 2021 |archive-date=November 14, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211114035705/https://techcrunch.com/2021/02/07/amazon-warehouse-workers-begin-historic-vote-to-unionize/ |url-status=live }}
• {{cite news |last1=Herrera |first1=Sebastian |title=Amazon Faces Familiar Opponent in Alabama Union Election |work=Wall Street Journal |date=January 31, 2021 |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/amazon-faces-familiar-opponent-in-alabama-union-election-11612098000 |language=en-US |issn=0099-9660 |access-date=February 22, 2021 |archive-date=February 24, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224231207/https://www.wsj.com/articles/amazon-faces-familiar-opponent-in-alabama-union-election-11612098000 |url-status=live }}
• {{Cite magazine |last1=Kopytoff |first1=Verne |title=How Amazon Crushed the Union Movement |magazine=Time |date=January 16, 2014 |url=https://time.com/956/how-amazon-crushed-the-union-movement/ |language=en |access-date=May 30, 2020 |archive-date=May 23, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200523144920/https://time.com/956/how-amazon-crushed-the-union-movement/ |url-status=live }}
• {{Cite web |last1=Lyons |first1=Kim |title=Amazon VP quits over whistleblower firings in scathing blog post |work=The Verge |date=May 4, 2020 |url=https://www.theverge.com/2020/5/4/21246284/amazon-vp-resign-whistleblower-firings-warehouse-workers |language=en |access-date=May 5, 2020 |archive-date=May 4, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200504191908/https://www.theverge.com/2020/5/4/21246284/amazon-vp-resign-whistleblower-firings-warehouse-workers |url-status=live }}
• {{cite magazine |last1=Matsakis |first1=Louise |title=Amazon Sick-Out Unites Tech and Warehouse Workers in Protest |magazine=Wired |date=April 24, 2020 |url=https://www.wired.com/story/amazon-sick-out-tech-warehouse-workers-protest/ |language=en |issn=1059-1028 |access-date=May 30, 2020 |archive-date=May 30, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200530023058/https://www.wired.com/story/amazon-sick-out-tech-warehouse-workers-protest/ |url-status=live }}
• {{Cite web |last1=Newton |first1=Casey |title=Amazon's white-collar workers are starting to stand up for their blue-collar colleagues |work=The Verge |date=April 24, 2020 |url=https://www.theverge.com/interface/2020/4/24/21232627/amazon-walkout-warehouse-covid-coronavirus-white-collar-jeff-bezos |language=en |access-date=April 26, 2020 |archive-date=April 24, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200424204334/https://www.theverge.com/interface/2020/4/24/21232627/amazon-walkout-warehouse-covid-coronavirus-white-collar-jeff-bezos |url-status=live }}
• {{Cite web |last1=Nickelsburg |first1=Monica |title=Amazon has avoided unions for 25 years — here's why labor leaders think that could soon change |work=GeekWire |date=September 4, 2020 |url=https://www.geekwire.com/2020/amazon-avoided-unions-25-years-heres-labor-leaders-think-soon-change/ |language=en-US |access-date=November 24, 2020 |archive-date=November 1, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201101180529/https://www.geekwire.com/2020/amazon-avoided-unions-25-years-heres-labor-leaders-think-soon-change/ |url-status=live }}
• {{Cite web |last1=Rey |first1=Jason Del |title=Leaked: Confidential Amazon memo reveals new software to track unions |work=Vox |date=October 6, 2020 |url=https://www.vox.com/recode/2020/10/6/21502639/amazon-union-busting-tracking-memo-spoc |language=en |access-date=October 11, 2020 |archive-date=October 11, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201011152754/https://www.vox.com/recode/2020/10/6/21502639/amazon-union-busting-tracking-memo-spoc |url-status=live }}
• {{Cite web |last1=Sainato |first1=Michael |title=Amazon intensifies 'severe' effort to discourage first-ever US warehouse union |work=the Guardian |date=February 3, 2021 |url=http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/feb/03/amazon-intensifies-severe-effort-discourage-first-warehouse-union |language=en |access-date=February 22, 2021 |archive-date=February 22, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210222202103/https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/feb/03/amazon-intensifies-severe-effort-discourage-first-warehouse-union |url-status=live }}
• {{cite news |last1=Streitfeld |first1=David |title=How Amazon Crushes Unions |work=The New York Times |date=March 16, 2021 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/16/technology/amazon-unions-virginia.html |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |access-date=March 21, 2021 |archive-date=March 21, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210321054150/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/16/technology/amazon-unions-virginia.html |url-status=live }}
• {{Cite web |last1=Tarnoff |first1=Ben |title=The Making of the Tech Worker Movement |work=Logic Magazine |date=May 4, 2020 |url=https://logicmag.io/the-making-of-the-tech-worker-movement/full-text/ |access-date=September 11, 2020 |archive-date=August 18, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200818070808/https://logicmag.io/the-making-of-the-tech-worker-movement/full-text/ |url-status=live }}
• {{Cite web |last1=Weigel |first1=Moira |title=Inside the Whale: An Interview with an Anonymous Amazonian |work=Logic Magazine |date=December 20, 2020 |url=https://logicmag.io/commons/inside-the-whale-an-interview-with-an-anonymous-amazonian/ |access-date=January 2, 2021 |archive-date=January 2, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102185027/https://logicmag.io/commons/inside-the-whale-an-interview-with-an-anonymous-amazonian/ |url-status=live }}

• [https://bamazonunion.org BAmazonUnion] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210512235724/https://bamazonunion.org/ |date=May 12, 2021 }} – Organizing campaign of the Mid-South Council of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU)
• [https://amazonlaborunion.org/ Amazon Labor Union] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211214200012/https://amazonlaborunion.org/ |date=December 14, 2021 }}

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