DEMOCRAT WHO JUNKED PRO ACT GOT CASH FROM AMAZON EXECS

Tactics used by Amazon to defeat the union organizing drive at the company’s Bessemer, Alabama, warehouse have highlighted the need for Democrats to pass the Protecting the Right to Organize Act (PRO Act), which would implement the strongest protections for workers since 1935 when collective bargaining got legal protection, Sam Knight reported for Truthout

If signed into law, the PRO Act will impose tougher restrictions on management during union election campaigns. The legislation will stop companies from forcing workers to hear anti-union propaganda at so-called captive audience meetings.

It will ban managers from influencing the size of the bargaining unit sought by union organizers and prohibit stall tactics designed to allow managers to wage fearmongering campaigns to scare workers out of voting for union representation.

Amazon employed all of these tactics in the run-up to the union certification vote at Bessemer and was also accused by organizers with the Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union (RWDSU) of engaging in tactics that are already illegal under current law. The PRO Act would drastically increase the consequences for companies found guilty of committing unfair labor practices during organizing drives.

Of the three out of 50 Democrats resisting calls to cosponsor the PRO Act, the two having faced election campaigns last year: Mark Kelly (D-Arizona) and Mark Warner (D-Virginia). They both received significant campaign donations from individuals employed by Amazon. Kelly received $139,270, and Warner received $44,896. While Kelly received more money from individuals employed by the firm, the money given to Warner is particularly illuminating.

It came almost exclusively from the top echelons of Amazon: prominent executives such as Jay Carney and David Clark, two men who earned notoriety on social media in recent weeks for attacking pro-RWDSU lawmakers.

Clark, in particular, was the subject of ridicule for claiming that Amazon was “the Bernie Sanders of employers” because it pays workers a minimum of $15/hour. In reality, Amazon’s market power pushes down wages in warehouses throughout the logistics industry, and only four other companies have more employees on food stamps, according to a Bloomberg analysis published in December.

The deluge of money from Amazon executives like Clark came after Warner supported Virginia officials flooding Amazon with subsidies in exchange for the company placing its second headquarters (HQ2) in northern Virginia.

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