NLRB Scores Pro-Labor Win Against Amazon, Protecting Right to Group Action

Staten Island’s regional branch of the National Labor Relations Board recently won a major victory for Amazon workers in federal court. The NLRB obtained an injunction preventing Amazon from firing employees for engaging in protected “concerted” activities, which may affect the corporate giant’s union-busting tactics across the country.

The action was brought by NLRB-29, the regional board serving Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, and Long Island. The NLRB’s petition arose after Amazon fired an employee for advocating for better workplace health and safety conditions in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. The employee was terminated after demanding stronger safety precautions and joining his co-workers in protesting Amazon’s safety failures.

The NLRB argued that the employee had the right to join with his co-workers to make his demands and engage in protests without fear of retaliation. The court agreed and enjoined Amazon from retaliating against any more employees for engaging in protected activities, although the court did not force Amazon to reinstate the specific employee.

The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) guarantees covered employees the right to engage in certain “concerted activity.” The purpose is to allow workers to join together in order to improve their wages and working conditions. Workers can band together and unionize, but even without a union, the NLRA is meant to ensure workers can engage in collective actions aimed at protecting their rights. The NLRA applies to most private sector employees, other than supervisors and employees in certain professions.

Protected concerted activity refers to when a group of workers joins together to take action for their mutual benefit or protection regarding the terms and conditions of employment. An activity is “concerted” when it involves at least two employees, although concerted action often involves many more. An activity may also be protected if taken by a single person so long as they are acting with the authority of other employees.

The NLRA protects a number of concerted activities. These activities are “protected” in that employers cannot retaliate against employees for engaging in these activities together. For example, covered employers cannot retaliate against employees for:

• Discussing their wages and benefits with one another
• Discussing working conditions
• Gathering input or circulating a petition about wages or working conditions
• Refusing, as a group, to work under unsafe conditions
• Addressing the employer as a group, or on behalf of a group, about wages or working conditions

Employees even have the right to go to the media to discuss problems in the workplace, as well as to report working conditions to a governmental agency. Employees are not protected, however, when they make knowingly false and malicious accusations about their employer. Reporting known falsehoods to the media, for example, or picketing publicly and shouting malicious lies about the company would likely not be protected. Workers are also not protected when badmouthing a company and its products or services with no tenable connection to conditions of employment.

The injunction against Amazon comes on the heels of close to two years of protests, complaints, strikes, and other actions taken by Amazon employees fed up with unsafe working conditions during the novel coronavirus pandemic. If the corporation violates the cease-and-desist, it can be held in contempt of court. NLRB-29 Director Teresa Poor celebrated the victory, stating: “This relief is critical to ensure that Amazon employees can fully and freely exercise their rights to join together and improve their working conditions, including by forming, assisting, or joining a union.”