Amazon CEO Andy Jassy Claims Workers ' Better Off' Without an Union, Company' s High Injury Rate ' Misunderstood'

Lucas NolanApril 16, 2022

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy stated in a recent interview that he believes his workers are “better off” without a union and that the company’s high injury rate is “misunderstood.”

Business Insider reports that Amazon CEO Andy Jassy stated during an interview with CNBC this week that he doesn’t believe union representation would benefit the company’s workers. “It’s employees’ choice whether or not they want to join a union, we happen to think they’re better off not doing so for a couple of reasons at least,” Jassy stated.

“It’s employees’ choice whether or not they want to join a union. We happen to think they’re better off not doing so,” says $AMZN CEO @ajassy on unions. “Regardless of how it all evolves we just won’t compromise the customer experience. That for us is paramount.” pic.twitter.com/WmaeSDWIZG

— Squawk Box (@SquawkCNBC) April 14, 2022

Jassy stated that Amazon “empowers” its employees and that he believes that a union could have a negative effect on a worker’s relationship with their manager. Jassy stated: “[At Amazon] if they see something they can do better for customers or for themselves, they can go meet in a room, decide how to change it and change it. That type of empowerment doesn’t happen when you have unions. It’s much more bureaucratic, it’s much slower.”

(Photo by KENA BETANCUR/AFP via Getty Images)

Jeff Bezos/Instagram

Amazon has faced scrutiny for its high injury rates at its warehouses in recent months. This week, the Strategic Organizing Center (SOC) released a report showing that Amazon employees suffer injuries at a rate two times higher than other competitors.

In a letter to shareholders, Jassy addressed this stating: “Our injury rates are sometimes misunderstood.” He said that the company has roles that apply to “warehousing” as well as “courier and delivery” categories and that the firm’s injury rate is higher than other warehousing firms but lower than delivery companies.

“When I first started in my new role, I spent significant time in our fulfillment centers and with our safety team, and hoped there might be a silver bullet that could change the numbers quickly,” Jassy said. “I didn’t find that.”

Breitbart News recently reported that Amazon is claiming that New York union organizers provided free marijuana to workers in an effort to convince them to vote in favor of the union. The objection is just one of many made by Amazon on Friday as the company aims to overturn a recent vote that created the first union in the history of the tech giant.

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) announced on April 1 that a majority of workers at the JFK8 warehouse in Staten Island, New York, voted to join the Amazon Labor Union (ALU). Amazon is now challenging the vote and claims that the ALU and NLRB suppressed voter turnout.

Amazon made a filing on Friday in which it questioned the ALU’s methods to win the unionization vote. Amazon’s lawyers state that ALU organizers distributed cannabis to workers ahead of the vote and that the NLRB “cannot condone such a practice as a legitimate method of obtaining support for a labor organization.”