Amazon has apologized for a couple of tweets from its corporate news account attacking Mark Pocan (D-California) for criticizing the company’s workplace, amid a large union force in a center. fulfillment in Alabama.
“This was an own goal, we are dissatisfied with it and we owe an apology to the Pocan representative,” Amazon said in a statement on Friday.
Pocan responded on Saturday morning.
“I sigh. It’s not about me, it’s about your workers – who you don’t treat with enough respect or dignity,” he wrote.
Amazon has struggled with union unity in a unit in Bessemer, Alabama, which threatens to give a unionization effort a boost elsewhere in the country. The company raised its eyebrows last week for a series of unusually snotty responses to politicians who tweeted about its workers and business practices.
It was a strategy that came from above – Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos wanted his corporate communications team to respond more aggressively against allegations of unfair work practices, according to Recode.
Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), expressed strong support for the efforts of Amazon workers in better conditions. Last Wednesday, Amazon executive Dave Clark serenely greeted the senator at the Alabama headquarters in a tweet, thanking him sarcastically for his work on behalf of American workers.
“I often say we’re Bernie Sanders of employers, but that’s not really fair, because we’re actually offering progressive jobs,” Clark said.
Pocan was the one who jumped in front of Clark. “Paying workers $ 15 / hour doesn’t make you a ‘progressive job’ when you unionize your bust and make workers urinate in water bottles,” he wrote on Twitter.
Amazon News, an Amazon Twitter corporate account, responded to Pocan in a tone similar to Clark’s.
“You don’t really believe in peeing in bottles, do you?” If this were true, no one would work for us, “the tweet read.
In fact, it is well documented that Amazon workers are subject to strict and physically demanding protocols. Some workers say they sometimes take extreme measures to avoid stopping work, because too much “free time,” as Amazon calls breaks, can lead to discipline.
However, it is less common for workers in Amazon warehouses to take short orders in the bathroom than for delivery drivers, who have difficulty finding public toilets – especially during the coronavirus pandemic.
In its statement on Friday, Amazon admitted that the tweet was wrong.
“It did not take into account our large population of drivers and instead focused incorrectly only on our fulfillment centers,” the company explained, saying it is aware that delivery drivers are struggling to find toilets and is committed to finding a solution to the “industry-wide” problem.
Then, Amazon differentiated its drivers from the workers of its fulfillment center.
“A typical Amazon fulfillment center has dozens of toilets, and employees can leave work at any time. If an employee at a fulfillment center has a different experience, we encourage them to talk to their manager and we will work to resolve the issue. ”
Amazon’s apology to Pocan was released late Friday, which could be interpreted as an effort to calm him down. The company also remained a mother on the other tweets of Amazon News targeting Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Which also proved to be one of Amazon’s strongest criticisms of Congress.
Amazon workers have already voted on the union issue, but their ballots are still being counted, according to AL.com. Almost 6,000 ballots were sent. The results are expected next week.
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