Amazon founder Jeff Bezos wrote in a letter to shareholders saying that the company should “do a better job” for its workers just days after a vote failed to unionize one of the company’s fulfillment centers.
“I think we need to do a better job for our employees. While the voting results were lopsided and our direct relationship with employees is strong, it’s clear to me that we need a better vision for how we create value for employees — a vision for their success,” Bezos wrote in the letter Thursday.
The online retail company came out victorious against unionization efforts on April 9 after a vote was held for nearly 6,000 employees at a fulfillment center in Bessemer, Alabama, where an overwhelming majority of the ballots counted expressed opposition to joining the Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union.
The unionization efforts began in October, just after the warehouse opened, and were spurred by workers’ complaints about intense quotas and concerns over the company’s handling of COVID-19 safety procedures.
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The Amazon founder, who is stepping down as CEO later this year to take on an executive chairman role, wrote that the company will invest more than $300 million into safety projects in 2021.
Bezos also pushed back against critics of Amazon, saying that 94% of employees at the Bessemer center “would recommend Amazon to a friend as a place to work.”
“Employees are able to take informal breaks throughout their shifts to stretch, get water, use the rest room, or talk to a manager, all without impacting their performance,” he wrote. “These informal work breaks are in addition to the 30-minute lunch and 30-minute break built into their normal schedule.”
In response to Bezos’s letter, the union vowed not to back down from its efforts to unionize the company’s workforce, saying in a statement, “Jeff Bezos admits Amazon has been mistreating workers.”
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“The impact on Amazon’s reputation by this campaign has been devastating, regardless of the vote result. We have initiated a global debate about the way Amazon treats its employees,” RWDSU President Stuart Appelbaum wrote.
