Punching In: Amazon Organizers Target a Potent Anti-Union Weapon

Monday morning musings for workplace watchers

Captive Audience Challenges | Tweaking Unemployment

Robert Iafolla: Amazon.com Inc. was recently hit with unfair labor practice allegations that could give the National Labor Relations Board’s Democratic majority a chance to ban one of the most potent weapons used by employers to repel union campaigns.

The unions attempting to represent Amazon workers at facilities in Bessemer, Ala., and Staten Island, N.Y., filed separate charges this month claiming federal labor law violations arising from the company convening mandatory anti-union meetings.

Such “captive audience meetings,” which critics call inherently coercive, have been legal under board precedent ...