eBay Pressured to Reinstate Quietly Deleted Union-Support Policy

Online marketplace eBay Inc. must restore language to its website spelling out its support for employee unionization rights, a pair of major investors said.

The New York city and state comptrollers’ offices are pressing the e-commerce giant to bring back a sentence in its sweeping online Human Rights Policy Statement that supports workers’ rights to organize, and to adhere to that policy. The pressure comes as the lone eBay subsidiary which is unionized has been battling accusations of union-busting activities and unfair contract negotiations.

The longstanding policy says the company strives to conduct its business in a “manner consistent with the principles set forth” in the International Labor Organization’s Fundamental Conventions. Over the summer, however, eBay quietly deleted a sentence on unionization that had stated: “eBay also respects workers’ rights to unionize, and commits to bargain in good faith with any relevant associations or labor unions,” the comptrollers said in a letter made public Tuesday.

The language was deleted sometime between June 9 and August 30, Bloomberg Law verified. The company did not respond to a request for comment.

The comptroller offices—which manage the city and state’s public employee pension funds—together owned 2.5 million shares of eBay valued at $111 million as of June 30, 2023.

Their campaign for eBay to clarify its labor stance comes as employee empowerment movements gain momentum. Organized labor disputes recently hit Hollywood as well as the auto manufacturing, supply-chain, health-care, and Las Vegas hospitality industries, and ChatGPT creator OpenAI is in the midst of a worker revolt over its board’s removal of CEO Sam Altman.

“eBay should be working to build constructive and positive bonds with its workforce, not removing commitments to fundamental human rights,” New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said a statement to Bloomberg Law Tuesday. “We encourage companies to uphold their commitments on labor rights, safeguarding employees and shareholder value.”

The comptrollers first questioned eBay’s track record on organized labor when employees at subsidiary TCGPlayer, which distributes Magic: The Gathering and Pokemon cards, alleged the company engaged in union-busting activities.

In March, then-TCGPlayer CEO Chedy Hampson was accused of threatening workers at a mandatory staff meeting by giving them an ultimatum between unionizing and keeping their jobs. Hampson stepped down later that month and the employees ended up being able to organize, but the action prompted DiNapoli, along with New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, to send a letter in June on the e-commerce company’s labor policy.

Employees filed an unfair labor practices complaint against TCGPlayer and eBay for their refusal to negotiate a fair union contract, the union said in a July press release. The National Labor Relations Board opened an investigation and denied the company’s petition to revoke a subpoena for information, according to agency documents. The investigation is ongoing.

The comptrollers sent another letter on Nov. 13 to the company’s board specifically asking for the reinstatement of eBay’s language and policy supporting unions.

eBay has not responded to either letter, a spokesperson for the comptrollers confirmed.

Lander said in an interview Tuesday as the November letter was released that his office hasn’t threatened to take any action, but will if the board does not respond by the requested date of Dec. 4. The comptrollers are weighing whether to introduce a shareholder resolution to get eBay to reinstate the policy. They are also considering launching a campaign asking all shareholders to vote “no” against executives, executive compensation packages or re-election of board members.

“The idea that when you’re called out because your actions don’t match your policy, that you instead of improving your actions, you would worsen your policy is really preposterous,” Lander said.

The International Labor Organization’s core labor standards include a clause supporting workers’ rights to unionize, making eBay’s stated policy contradictory, he added.

Ultimately, Lander said he hopes the company will recognize it signed onto the international policy for a reason, “because being a company that respects internationally recognized human rights is important.”

Supporting employee rights is valuable “first and foremost to your workers, but also to your customers and your shareholders,” Lander said. “And when you violate or backtrack, you should expect pushback.”