Amazon Breaking US Law by Firing Activist, Accuses Union

A union organizing Amazon .com Inc. employees in New York has filed a complaint accusing the company of illegally firing one of the labor group’s most prominent supporters.

The Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union submitted a complaint Wednesday to the National Labor Relations Board alleging that the retailer violated federal law when it terminated Staten Island fulfillment center employee Rashad Long.

In December, Long joined a rally at City Hall protesting Amazon’s proposed expansion in Queens. During the protest, a participant read out a statement from Long criticizing Amazon for what he deemed disrespectful management, unfair discipline, inadequate security and poor health and safety. A video of the event was posted on the union’s public Facebook page.

“Rather than dealing with legitimate issues which he and many other workers at the facility across the country and across the world have exposed, Amazon prefers to shut him down and fire him,” RWDSU President Stuart Appelbaum said in an interview. “Given the size of Amazon and the way it’s transforming industries, everybody needs to be worried about what this portends for the future of work.”