Photo: FREDERIC J. BROWN / AFP / Getty Images
An independent branch of the federal government charged with enforcing labor laws in the U.S. will review charges against online retail giant Amazon on Tuesday, accused of illegally retaliating against two female employees who had spoken out against company policies when firing them.
The audience before The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) will examine the claims of former workers Emily Cunningham and Maren Costa , who worked in user experience design at Amazon headquarters in Seattle.
Former employees said they were fired last year because they also openly criticized the company’s climate policies. and labor practices .
In April, a year after the workers were fired, the board found that Amazon unlawfully retaliated against them.
The government agency informed Cunningham and Costa that it would formally accuse the company of unfair labor practices on their behalf if Amazon did not reach an agreement .
The NLRB regional office issued the complaint in May that will be heard on Tuesday.
Cunningham and Costa were leaders of the advocacy group Amazon Employees for Climate Justice. , that pressured the company to limit its environmental impact.
TUESDAY, Sept for illegal retaliation ag ainst women tech worker leaders of @ AMZNforClimate
Zoom info for watching the trial in this thread.
Our press release: 1 / https://t.co/VbLtWG0RM4
– Amazon Employees For Climate Justice (@AMZNforClimate) September 22, 2021
They were also arranged so that 400 employees intentionally violated Amazon’s corporate communications policy after the company threatened to fire them for criticizing its climate policies.
After the COVID pandemic started – 19, Cunningham and Costa also shared requests from warehouse workers who who called for greater protections in the workplace.
“ fired on Good Friday by Amazon for fighting for the safety of our colleagues in times of COVID, ”Costa tweeted in April, after the board’s initial decision.
In their initial complaint to the NLRB, Cunningham and Costa said Amazon had violated federal labor laws by rescinating them, “based on the discriminatory application” of the company’s communication policies.
The communication policy prohibits Amazon employees from talking about company business without manager approval.
Cunningham and Costa argued that both policies created a chilling effect that prevented employees from participating in activities protected by federal labor laws.
Kamala Harris, then Democratic Senator from California, and Senator Elizabeth Warren, Democrat from Massachusetts, m They later wrote a letter to Amazon expressing concern over the firings of Cunningham and Costa, as well as the resignation of Tim Bray, former vice president of Amazon’s cloud computing group, who resigned in protest.
Following his resignation, Bray said that “firing whistleblowers” is proof of “a streak of toxicity running through the company culture.”
“I choose not to serve or drink that poison,” he added in a statement.
Amazon recently reached an agreement with a couple of workers from the warehouse over labor disputes, but not with Cunningham and Costa.
Amazon has said that both Cunningham and Costa were fired for “repeatedly violating internal policies. ”
“ We support the rights of all employees to criticize the working conditions of their employers, but that does not come with a generalized immunity against all and each of the internal policies, ”Amazon spokesman José Negrete told CNBC earlier this month.
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