Amazon.com Inc. AMZN CEO Andy Jassy has been found to have violated federal labor law with his anti-union statements by a judge of the National Labor Relations Board.
What Happened: On Wednesday, NLRB Administrative Law Judge, Brian Gee, ruled that Jassy’s comments about unionization efforts at Amazon in 2022 violated federal labor law, reported CNBC.
Jassy’s remarks, made in interviews with CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” Bloomberg Television, and The New York Times’ DealBook conference, suggested that unionization would lead to a less empowered workforce and a slower, more bureaucratic workplace.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Jassy remarked, "If you see something on the line that you think could be better for your team or you or your customers, you can't just go to your manager and say, ‘Let's change it.'"
The judge found these comments to be threatening, as they implied that employees would be less empowered and find it harder to get things done quickly if they voted for a union. However, Jassy’s other comments about unionization changing the workers’ relationship with their employer were deemed lawful.
Amazon plans to dispute the NLRB’s ruling, with company spokesperson Mary Kate Paradis stating that the decision reflects poorly on the state of free speech rights today.
"The decision reflects poorly on the state of free speech rights today, and we remain optimistic that we will be able to continue to engage in a reasonable discussion on these issues where all perspectives have an opportunity to be heard," Paradis said.
Why It Matters: This ruling comes at a time when Amazon has been under scrutiny for its handling of unionization efforts. The company has been accused of spending millions to discourage unionization among its delivery network employees. The ruling against Jassy could potentially impact Amazon’s ongoing efforts to thwart unionization.
Earlier in 2023, Amazon’s attractive pay structure was reported to be leaving the company unfazed by unionization efforts. However, this recent ruling against Jassy’s anti-union comments may have implications for the company’s ongoing labor relations.
On a different note, Jassy has been in the spotlight for other reasons as well. The FTC recently accused Jassy and former Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos of deleting text messages that could have been used as evidence in an ongoing antitrust investigation against Amazon.
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