Surname 1

Student’s Name

Professor’s Name

Course

Date

Amazon to Unionize or Not

Background: Amazon’s benefits and Working Conditions

Amazon provides various excellent incentives to staff and eligible family members,

incorporating domestic partners with their children, and a starting salary of at least $15 per hour,

which is more than twice the federal minimum wage ("Amazon," n.d). These robust benefits

begin on the first day of employment and include health insurance, parental leave, avenues to

save for the future, and other tools to foster health and well-being ("Amazon," n.d). Amazon

assists its workers in establishing stable futures for themselves by including industry-leading

salaries and other benefits. Furthermore, regardless of rank, tenure, or role, Amazon provides

medical, prescription drug, vision, and dental coverage to all its regular full-time workers.

Employees are rewarded for their efforts with pay and valuable support for themselves and their

families. Furthermore, Amazon provides up to 20 weeks of parental leave to birth mothers and

six weeks to adoptive parents ("Amazon," n.d).

Issues Which Have Led to the Desire to Unionize

As the most prominent American e-commerce store, hiring over one million employees

and exponentially expanding, Amazon's workplace labor policies have been susceptible to

continued criticism, with reports on job conditions, increasing injury rates, workplace

surveillance, and campaigns to block unionization. According to Willow (2019), there are

several reports of workers being forced to hit exceedingly high targets, exposed to stringent
 Surname 2

breaks and a terrifying work environment, remotely tracked, and concerned that failing to meet

targets will result in imminent loss of employment (Willow, 2019). Amazon started to discuss

factory pay and employment opportunities in the late 2010s. Despite raising the minimum wage

to $15 per hour, providing healthcare incentives, and conducting COVID-19 testing, labor unions

and government leaders criticized Amazon's factory working practices ("Working from Home,"

n.d).

Process Taken by Employees to Unionize

According to Jones (2021), employees at other facilities were calling for improvements to

workplace practices, while staff at the Bessemer, Ala. factory voted on whether or not to

unionize. They were gathering signatures on petitions and discussing the prospect of going on

strike. They were also said to be talking to unions about possible demands.

Process Taken by Amazon to Prevent Unionization

Throughout Amazon's 25-year history, it has effectively resisted unionization attempts.

For instance, when the Communication Employees of America began a movement to unionize

400 customer service staff at a call center in 2000, the organization closed it (Nickelsburg, 2020).

Amazon reported that the call center was closed as part of a more considerable consolidation and

layoffs at the time. According to Jones (2021), Amazon had increased its attempts to persuade

staff in Bessemer not to form a union. The corporation said that its employees did not need

collective bargaining arrangements because it already provided much of the benefits that unions

demand. Amazon has devised methods for detecting possible union activity among its

employees. The corporation immediately removed the two job postings for intelligence analysts

whose responsibilities included monitoring "labor organizing threats," claiming that they did not

adequately describe the jobs (Nickelsburg, 2020).

 Surname 3

Discussion

The workers' decision to unionize was ethical. Collecting signatures and alerting the

public to the likelihood of peaceful protests is ethical, in contrast to Amazon management, which

discouraged unionization by threatening to fire employees who joined labor unions. Employees

should be able to make sound decisions in union elections without being influenced by their

employers.

Unions are more relevant now than they have ever been. Employment is evolving in a

global economy, and some workers are resisting unionization. When employees attempt to join

unions, they are often met with misinformation and threats, including the dismissal of union

supporters. Workers have little control when acting alone, but they may impact significant

change when working as a group. Unions are the employees' united voice. Unions use their

influence and power to ensure that employees' legal rights are protected.

I believe that the recent Amazon union vote reflects how today's labor force views the

importance of unions. Despite the difficulties that workers faced in organizing unions, they

managed to garner 738 votes in favor of the union (Selyukh, 2021). Employees actively support

labor unions, and they continue to play an essential role in changing the political and business

environments. A union success may have sparked a series of organizing campaigns at other

Amazon warehouses, eventually allowing employees more flexibility to seek demands from the

corporation on issues like breaks, safety, and job pace. However, the failure helps Amazon to

add and expel employees as it sees fit at its warehouses.

 Surname 4

Works Cited

Amazon. "Employee benefits.” Amazon, n.d, www.aboutamazon.com/workplace/employee-

benefits

Jones, Michelle. “Amazon workers fight to improve working conditions.” Entrepreneur, 24 Mar.

2021, www.entrepreneur.com/article/368073

Nickelsburg, Monica. “Amazon has avoided unions for 25 years-here’s why labor leaders think

that could soon change.” Geekwire, 4 Sept. 2020, www.geekwire.com/2020/amazon-

avoided-unions-25-years-heres-labor-leaders-think-soon-change/

Selyukh, Alina. “It’s a no: Amazon warehouse workers vote against unionizing in historic

election.” NPR, 9 Apr. 2021, www.npr.org/2021/04/09/982139494/its-a-no-amazon-

warehouse-workers-vote-against-unionizing-in-historic-election

Willow, Francesca. “The ethical issues with Amazon.” Ethical unicorn, 12 Jan. 2019,

www.ethicalunicorn.com/2019/01/12/how-ethical-is-amazon/

Working from Home. “Amazon worker organization-Amazon news.” Working from Home, n.d,

www.workingfromhome.news/amazon-worker-organization-amazon-news/