After a lengthy investigation, the National Labor Relations Board ruled Amazon’s “captive-audience meetings” are a violation of the National Labor Relations Act. These are mandatory meetings where the employer shares its position on the trade union.
“Ensuring that workers can make a truly free choice about whether or not they want union representation is one of the primary goals of the National Labor Relations Act. Captive audience meetings, which give employers unlimited freedom to force their union messages on employees who are in danger of being disciplined or fired, undermine this important goal,” Chairwoman Lauren McFerran said of the decision. “Today’s decision better protects the freedom of employees to exercise their rights under the law, while ensuring that employers can communicate their views on unionization in a non-binding manner.”
The decision states that employers may hold union-related meetings as long as they give advance notice to employees about the subject matter, provide that attendance is voluntary and that there are no consequences for refusal to participate, and that attendance records are not kept.
One with today’s power centers in Amazon rocky history and with the efforts of its employees to organize NLRB. However, the decision could affect other large technology firms that are following similar practices around unionization.
