Amazon’s anti-union efforts continue to ramp up, with the company investigating the possibility of banning pro-union words in a planned internal app.
Amazon has a long history of fighting against unionization, even going so far as to hire Pinkerton detectives to thwart organization efforts. The company has also been accused of violating labor laws in an effort to fight unionization at its Bessemer, Alabama warehouse. The company now appears to be taking its efforts even further, investigating the possibility of banning pro-union terminology in a planned app.
According to The Intercept, the company is in the planning phases of developing a chat app for its workers. The company held a high-level meeting in August 2021 to discuss creating a social media app for workers in an effort to improve morale and sponsor employee happiness.
As part of the planning, Amazon is looking at blocking a slew of words and phrases, including “union,” “grievance,” “pay raise,” “compensation,” “unfair,” “injustice,” “fairness,” “this is concerning,” and many more.
“With free text, we risk people writing Shout-Outs that generate negative sentiments among the viewers and the receivers,” read a document seen by The Intercept. “We want to lean towards being restrictive on the content that can be posted to prevent a negative associate experience.”
The company has said “many” of the words listed in the documents will not be screened out but, given Amazon’s history of fighting against unionization, it’s doubtful many believe that statement.
