« We would like to thank Jeff Bezos for going to space, because while he was up there, here, we were setting up a union. It is through these words full of irony that the young worker Christian Smalls celebrates in front of the media, this Friday, April 1, the creation of the very first union within the giant Amazon in the United States. Around him, dozens of euphoric employees burst into joy as they hugged each other. The scene takes place in New York, where the workers of a local warehouse have just voted by a majority in favor of the brand new Amazon Labor Union (ALU) – up to, according to a count transmitted online, 2,654 votes “ for”, against 2,131 votes “against”.
No “petition” or “living wage”
If the leaders of Amazon have not yet officially reacted to this announcement, disturbing revelations, exposed a few days later by the online media The Intercept, offer a fairly clear view of their position. We learn that the e-commerce giant has worked in recent months on the development of internal messaging on which keywords specific to union rhetoric – “ union “, but also ” salary increase », « petition ” or ” living wage – would simply be blocked. The same fate would be reserved for a set of terms “ representing potential criticism of Amazon’s working conditions “. Among the long list transcribed by The Interceptwe find in particular the keywords “ termination », « harassment », « justice », « freedom ” or ” robots ».
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The project dates back to November 2021. At the time, says specialized journalist Ken Klippenstein, the company’s pundits discussed during a meeting the possibility of creating a ” internal social network “. This would allow employees to highlight the performance of their colleagues through a kind of ” points bonus “baptized playful” Shout-Outs “. Objective of the initiative? Make sure to ” reduce wear » workers… by increasing their productivity thanks to virtual badges with « direct business value “, all in a frame ” benevolent and positive “. According to Dave Clark, the global head of consumer business at Amazon, it’s about taking inspiration from the model of the dating app Bumble, where the exchanges are essentially ” individual ” (that of Facebook being too likely to turn into ” forum »).
“Automatic Prohibited Word Checker”
It was following this meeting that an “automatic prohibited word checker” was designed. As its name suggests, it is a kind of digital blacklist, allowing the program to automatically prevent employees from sending a message containing such or such content. Beyond the aforementioned words, some whole sentences like ” This is worrying would be banned. And in addition to this automated system, Amazon officials would have the power to report or remove any ” Shout-Out deemed inappropriate, according to documents obtained by The Intercept.
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