Amazon Fires Labor Organizer at Major Kentucky Hub, Union Says

Amazon.com Inc. has fired a senior labor organizer in Kentucky for speaking out in anti-union meetings last month, according to the Amazon Labor Union.

The organizer, Griffin Ritze, was fired for “insubordination” after attending several invite-only meetings in December against his manager’s instructions, according a termination notice provided by the union Wednesday. Ritze was attempting push back against company-run information sessions designed to dissuade workers from joining the union, the ALU said.

Tuesday’s termination notice says he “failed to meet Amazon’s Standards of Conduct and behavioral expectations,” and that “your employment is terminated immediately.”

Amazon didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

The termination adds a new level of vitriol to an already contentious organizing effort at one of Amazon’s main air distribution hubs. The $1.5 billion facility at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport plays a key role in next-day delivery.

Ritze and 10 other workers filed a charge with the federal labor board in November accusing the company of illegally shutting down a union display.

“Amazon doesn’t want pro-union workers speaking up in the workplace because they’re afraid of our campaign’s momentum. Well over 1,000 of my coworkers have signed a union card and hundreds have gotten involved in our organizing efforts, ” Ritze said in a statement Wednesday.

“Amazon has proven once again that they are willing to break the law by infringing on workers’ rights to organize and I’m committed to fight even harder for a union at KCVG,” he said.