Amazon tracking "labor organizing threats" within the company, report says
Amazon may be stepping up its monitoring of workers involved in labor activities at the ecommerce company, according to a job listing that recently appeared on its website.
A screenshot of the ad (see below), which has since been removed, shows Amazon seeking to recruit an analyst to collect information related to "labor organizing threats against the company." Other job duties include tracking the "funding and activities connected to corporate campaigns internal and external against Amazon."
The job listing was posted in January, according to a Vice report, but only drew public attention this week after surfacing on Twitter. Amazon said the listing "was not an accurate description of the role" and removed it from its site. The company also indicated that it employs a team of analysts to monitor and prepare for a range of incidents, including large gatherings near company buildings that could put team members at risk.
Amazon earlier this year was accused of firing workers who complained about its policies, including procedures for protecting warehouse employees from COVID-19. Roughly two dozen Amazon workers in the company's Staten Island, New York, distribution facility walked off the job in March over concerns their jobs might expose them to the coronavirus.
Workers at the Amazon-owned supermarket chain Whole Foods have also risen up against their employer in recent months. A group of employees is suing the company, alleging they were punished for supporting the Black Lives Matter movement.
In May, two former Amazon employees, Maren Costa and Emily Cunningham, said they were fired for advocating on behalf of the company's warehouse workers.
Mary Kay Henry, president of the Service Employees International Union, said it's typical of "an American corporation to resist the organizing that's happening, frankly, naturally in Amazon's warehouses."
CBS News' Aimee Picchi contributed reporting.
