Published , by TJ Denzer
Published , by TJ Denzer
Amazon has found itself on the butt of criticism once again regarding corporate attitudes against labor unions and employee organization. Recently, the company drew ire for job postings in which heavily anti-union language was used to describe the position. Following heavy criticism, Amazon has deleted the listings, claiming the descriptions used were “inaccurate.”
Amazon had recently posted new openings for “Intelligence Analyst” positions (now removed) on its job web pages. It wasn’t long before critics took notice of the intense union-busting language used in describing the positions. Employees were expected to engage and report on “sensitive topics,” including “labor organizing threats against the company.” Other duties included being expected to “establish and track funding and activities connected to corporate campaigns against Amazon” and aid management in gathering resources for “restraining orders against activist groups.”
After being pointed out by critics like Stacy Mitchell of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance and Joe Slowik of information and cyber security group Paralus, Amazon would eventually remove the listings. A spokesperson said in a statement to CNBC that the language used in the job listings was “inaccurate,” though Amazon did not provide any further details on exactly what was inaccurate about the postings.
It’s nowhere near the first controversial incident regarding business or employment that Amazon has found itself embroiled in even in 2020 alone. The company was called upon during a gathering of major tech CEOs in an antitrust hearing in late July 2020. Moreover, one of the reveals of that hearing was that Amazon may have engaged with Apple in backdoor negotiations about hosting Amazon Prime Video products on the Apple TV platform at a reduced cut for Apple, a deal that arguably suggested anti-competitive practices and found Apple on the end of a legal battle with Epic Games.
Is it possible Amazon made a mistake when including the anti-labor union language in its intelligence analyst job listings? Possibly, but if the recent history of Amazon is any indication, the perceived mistake within the company was probably that the quiet part was accidentally said very loudly as far as its attitude towards unions go.