Las week, 26-year-old Kaylyn Richards received an automated email informing her that she was terminated from her job at an Amazon Fresh grocery retail store in Seattle.
Earlier that week, Richards had spoken with one of her managers about clerical problems she was having with the attendance time clock, as she was erroneously docked attendance points, though she noted she had never missed shifts or used paid time off if doing so. A manager reassured her the clerical errors made clocking in and out through the app would be resolved.
Later in the week, Richards continued working as usual without any problems, and even noted she discovered glass in a tray of fish after a portion of the glass window in the deli had broken. Then, the day after her last shift, on a Wednesday night, Richards realized she had been locked out of the A to Z Amazon system.
“I have not missed any of my shifts here, or I use my PTO to cover it. And to have an app, lock me out of it, and to not even receive any communication from Amazon Fresh is kind of mind-boggling,” Richards said. “To talk to a manager about accruing those points, and have him reassure me that it was already taken care of, then to proceed with my shift and then to be locked out by a robot is kind of crazy.”
Later in the week, Richards continued working as usual without any problems, and even noted she discovered glass in a tray of fish after a portion of the glass window in the deli had broken. Then, the day after her last shift, on a Wednesday night, Richards realized she had been locked out of the A to Z Amazon system.
“I have not missed any of my shifts here, or I use my PTO to cover it. And to have an app, lock me out of it, and to not even receive any communication from Amazon Fresh is kind of mind-boggling,” Richards said. “To talk to a manager about accruing those points, and have him reassure me that it was already taken care of, then to proceed with my shift and then to be locked out by a robot is kind of crazy.”
Richards has argued her firing is in retaliation for her supporting union efforts at her Amazon Fresh store. Her firing has also jeopardized her housing security, as she has been living in a youth home program and needs paystubs to prove steady employment in order to be placed into an apartment.
Workers at Richards’ Amazon Fresh grocery store in Seattle with 150 employees, are currently seeking union recognition from Amazon while organizing support among co-workers to form Amazon Workers United.
The organizing drive has faced significant opposition from Amazon, which refuses to recognize the union. Several unfair labor practice charges have been filed with the National Labor Relations Board alleging retaliation to union organizing, including claims Richards was fired in retaliation for supporting the union.
“Having a body to protect people from abusive management would be very helpful,” said Nova Rune, a trans woman who has worked at Amazon Fresh since October and noted she has been misgendered multiple times at work and management isn’t properly educated on discriminatory issues.
Amazon opened the first Amazon Fresh grocery store in 2020 and is currently expanding retail store locations around the country, in addition to operating about500 Whole Foods stores in the US. There are currently no formally recognized unions representing workers at any of Amazon’s grocery locations, though three Amazon warehouses, one in Alabama and two in New York City, are in the process of holding union elections.
Joseph Fink has worked at the Amazon Fresh store in Seattle since before it opened in July. He’s previously worked at Whole Foods and several other grocery stores.
He explained forming a union had been a topic of discussion among workers since the store opened, but the efforts became more organized when Amazon was forced to post notices to employees company-wide affirming their union organizing rights as part of a settlement with the National Labor Relations Board at the end of December.
“Sometimes there is a disconnect between ideas in a boardroom and on the ground in the trenches,” said Fink. “We don’t have an onsite human resources team. I’ve sent emails, I’ve submitted multiple HR cases and there’s no response.”
As an example of bad policies, Fink cited a ban on employees working with water bottles, while they face being reprimanded if they leave in the midst of a task to go to the water fountain in the store.
He argued there were many policies where workers are yelled at for minor infractions and the most vulnerable workers were the most susceptible to being disciplined and terminated for policies such as the point-based attendance system or subject to sexual harassment in the workplace without any action from management or corporate.
Fink described one manager verbally and sexually harassing multiple employees without reprimand, including making sexually explicit remarks toward Fink in the workplace. Fink also claimed he was verbally reprimanded for posting union flyers in the break room, which were removed.
Amazon Workers United first went public several weeks ago and have notified the company of their demands. They include raising the store’s minimum wage to $25 an hour, an employee discount in line with what is offered to Whole Foods employees, an improved dress code, a fairer attendance policy, chairs for cashiers, sexual harassment training, and access to food the store throws away or composts.
“There’s a culture of fear about basic interactions with employees. You can be reprimanded and that type of culture of fear has made it hard to have any conversation about a union at all,” added Fink. “I’m not afraid. Jeff [Bezos] doesn’t scare me.”
A spokesperson for Amazon denied claims of retaliation in regards to Kaylyn Richards’s termination. “These claims of retaliation are false, and our attendance policy is applied consistently to all employees in our stores. We encourage employees who have questions about the policy to speak with their managers or HR partners,” the spokesperson said in an email.
In regards to the union drive, the spokesperson added: “Our employees have the choice of whether or not to join a union, and they haven’t chosen to do that at this store. The opinions of a few individuals do not reflect the majority of our employees. Our focus remains on working directly with our team to make Amazon a great place to work.
“The allegations in the charges filed with the NLRB are false and we look forward to showing that through this process.”
上周，26 岁的 Kaylyn Richards 收到了一封自动发送的电子邮件，通知她她被解雇了在西雅图一家Amazon Fresh 杂货零售店的工作。
那周早些时候，理查兹与她的一位经理谈过她在考勤时钟方面遇到的文书问题，因为她错误地扣了考勤点，尽管她指出她从未错过轮班或使用带薪休假。一位经理向她保证，通过该应用程序进出打卡时出现的文书错误将得到解决。
2 月，纽约布法罗的一名星巴克咖啡师帮助亚利桑那州梅萨当地的星巴克工人联合会。
美国工会在胜利浪潮中看到了异常有希望的时刻
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本周晚些时候，理查兹继续照常工作，没有任何问题，甚至注意到在熟食店的一部分玻璃窗破裂后，她在一盘鱼中发现了玻璃。然后，在她最后一次轮班后的第二天，一个周三的晚上，理查兹意识到她被锁定在亚马逊 A 到 Z 系统之外。
“我在这里没有错过任何轮班，或者我使用我的 PTO 来弥补它。拥有一个应用程序，将我拒之门外，甚至没有收到来自 Amazon Fresh 的任何通信，这有点令人难以置信，”理查兹说。“与经理谈论累积这些积分，并让他向我保证它已经处理好了，然后继续我的轮班，然后被机器人锁在外面，这有点疯狂。”
理查兹辩称，解雇她是为了报复她在亚马逊生鲜店支持工会的努力。她的解雇也危及了她的住房保障，因为她一直住在青年之家计划中，需要工资单来证明稳定的工作才能被安置在公寓里。
理查兹位于西雅图的亚马逊生鲜杂货店拥有150 名员工，目前他们正在寻求亚马逊工会的认可，同时组织同事支持组建亚马逊工人联合会。
组织运动遭到亚马逊的强烈反对，亚马逊拒绝承认工会。国家劳工关系委员会已向国家劳工关系委员会提出了几项不公平的劳工行为指控，指控对工会组织进行报复，包括声称理查兹因支持工会而被解雇。
“拥有一个保护人们免受虐待管理的机构将非常有帮助，”自 10 月以来一直在 Amazon Fresh 工作的跨性别女性 Nova Rune 说，她指出她在工作中多次被误判，管理层没有接受过有关歧视的适当教育问题。
亚马逊于 2020 年开设了第一家 Amazon Fresh 杂货店，目前除了在美国经营约 500家 Whole Foods 商店外，还在全国范围内扩大零售店的位置。目前亚马逊的任何一家杂货店都没有正式认可的工会代表工人，尽管亚马逊的三个仓库，一个在阿拉巴马州，两个在纽约市，正在举行工会选举。
Joseph Fink 在西雅图的 Amazon Fresh 商店于 7 月开业之前一直在工作。他之前曾在 Whole Foods 和其他几家杂货店工作过。
他解释说，自商店开业以来，组建工会一直是工人讨论的话题，但当亚马逊被迫向全公司员工发布通知，确认他们的工会组织权利作为与国家工党达成和解的一部分时，这些努力变得更有条理。关系委员会在 12 月底。
“有时，会议室中的想法与战壕中的实际想法之间存在脱节，”芬克说。“我们没有现场人力资源团队。我已经发送了电子邮件，我已经提交了多个 HR 案例，但没有任何回复。”
作为不良政策的一个例子，芬克引用了一项禁止员工使用水瓶工作的禁令，而如果他们在执行任务中离开去商店的饮水机，他们将面临受到谴责。
他认为，在许多政策中，工人因轻微违规而被大喊大叫，而最弱势的工人最容易因计分考勤系统等政策而受到纪律处分和解雇，或者在工作场所受到性骚扰而没有采取任何行动。管理层或公司。
芬克描述了一名经理在没有谴责的情况下对多名员工进行口头和性骚扰，包括在工作场所对芬克发表露骨的性言论。芬克还声称他因在休息室张贴工会传单而受到口头谴责，这些传单已被删除。
Amazon Workers United 几周前首次上市，并已将他们的要求通知了该公司。其中包括将商店的最低工资提高到每小时 25 美元、与 Whole Foods 员工提供的员工折扣一致、改进着装要求、更公平的出勤政策、收银员椅子、性骚扰培训以及获得商店食物的机会扔掉或堆肥。
“对于与员工的基本互动，存在一种恐惧文化。你可能会受到谴责，而那种恐惧的文化使人们很难就工会进行任何对话，”芬克补充道。“我不怕。杰夫 [贝佐斯] 并没有吓到我。”
亚马逊的一位发言人否认对凯琳理查兹的解雇进行报复的说法。“这些报复指控是错误的，我们的出勤政策始终适用于我们商店的所有员工。我们鼓励对政策有疑问的员工与他们的经理或人力资源合作伙伴交谈，”发言人在一封电子邮件中说。
关于工会运动，发言人补充说：“我们的员工可以选择是否加入工会，而他们没有选择在这家商店这样做。少数人的意见并不反映我们大多数员工的意见。我们的重点仍然是直接与我们的团队合作，使亚马逊成为一个理想的工作场所。
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