A National Labor Relations Board judge has ruled that Amazon CEO Andy Jassy broke labor laws by making anti-union statements in interviews with media.
The judge, Brian D. Gee, identified statements Jassy made on CBNC’s “Squawk Box” and at two summits held by The New York Times and Bloomberg News that said that workers were better off without a union. While the comments Jassy said about the change that unionization has on the employee-employer relationship were OK, his statements that employees would “find it harder to get things done quickly and would be better off” in a union were not.
Spokesperson Mary Kate Paradis said Amazon strongly disagrees with the ruling and that the decision “reflects poorly on the state of free speech rights today.”
The judge told Jassy that Amazon must avoid “threatening its employees” with additional comments. The company must also post a notice in all of their U.S. facilities that show that the company is complying with the ruling.
