Amazon failed to stop a historic first of its kind unionization effort at a Staten Island fulfillment centre despite documents showing it was considering spending up to $US100,000 ($138,820) per month on anti-union consultants to kill it.
New Amazon documents filed with the U.S. The Department of Labour suggests the company engaged consultants for a rate of up to $US20,000 ($27,764) per week in an aggressive effort to persuade workers to abandon unionization efforts. The documents were first spotted by Insider on Tuesday, and were posted on Twitter by Director of the Project on State and Local Enforcement at the Harvard Law School Labour and Worklife Program Terri Gerstein.
From Oct 24, 2021. 6/13 pic.twitter.com/yf2JAiIDZ9
— Terri Gerstein (@TerriGerstein) April 17, 2022
One of the documents, dated October 24, 2021, appears to be a letter exchange between Amazon and labour consulting firm Lev Labour LLC. The letter appears to detail weekly pay for five Lev consultants who were “being engaged to represent the interests of Amazon relative to labour matters at its Staten Island, New York facilities.” According to the letter, each engaged consultant would receive at least $US400 ($555) per hour working a minimum of six hours per day. Once meals and travel are factored in, each individual consultant should expect to receive between $US17,000 ($23,599) and $US20,000 ($27,764) per week for their services according to the letter. Amazon would have had to pay Lev between $US85,000 ($117,997) and $US100,000 ($138,820) per week to pay for the five consultants.
In a bio on Lev’s website, President and CEO Katie Lev is described as having experience managing numerous organising campaigns involving “quickie elections,” mail ballots, decertifications, neutrality agreements and even a hunger strike.
“Whether you just received your first petition, have multiple mature contracts, or are facing a corporate campaign, we’re your partner for all your union issues,” Lev says on its website.
Neither Amazon nor Lev Labour responded to Gizmodo’s requests for comment. It’s unclear if their deal went through.
Amazon’s anti-union checkbook expands far beyond Staten Island. Department of Labour fillings spotted by HuffPo last month reportedly show Amazon allegedly paid anti-union consultants a total of $US4.3 ($6) million in 2021. That figure eclipses money spent by most of the nation’s biggest anti-union spenders according to a recent Economic Policy Institute analysis.
Though the vast amount Amazon was considering spending to quash the Amazon Labour Union was, until now, unknown, workers at both The Bessemer, Alabama warehouse and JFK8 have reappeared cited claims of anti-union interference. In the weeks leading up to the JFK8 vote, workers told The City they attended anti-union meetings they believed were mandatory. The employees reported seeing anti-union literature posted throughout the facility. Several months prior to that, the National Labour Relations Board filed a complaint accusing Amazon of interrogating and surveilling workers in Staten Island. One consultant mentioned in the complaint allegedly referred to union organisers as “thugs.” At the time Amazon refuted those accusations which they described as “false.”
Gizmodo spoke with one Amazon Labour Union Organiser Tristian Martinez who said he didn’t personally see any instances of intimidation or interference during the JFK8 vote but said he thought managers had made workers feel like they were required to vote even though they are not.
It’s possible Amazon’s already hefty spending on anti unionization efforts will only increase this year as more warehouses consider following the Staten Island workers’ momentum. Just this week, around 25% of workers in a small New Jersey facility reportedly showed interest in forming a union. Oddly, the labour group looking to represent those workers withdrew their petition one day later under unclear circumstances. Elsewhere in the working class tech sector, Apple retail workers in Atlanta became the first to file for a union election this week.