The union victory at Amazon’s JFK8 facility in Staten Island was truly remarkable. A majority of the employees there voted last week for union representation despite the company’s hard-nosed union avoidance tactics, marking the first successful U.S. organizing effort in the company’s history.
American labor law has embodied free speech rights for employers, meaning they may say virtually anything to employees that is not an obvious threat of reprisal or a promise of benefit. As a result, employers frequently spout sophisticated messaging that boils down to the specious proposition that employees somehow don’t need unions.
As a worker, even if you don’t want to hear this message, you can be forced to listen to it during “captive audience meetings” — compulsory all-employee meetings where the employer makes its pitch.
