Anti-union consultants in the US
In the US, since its founding in 1994, Amazon has fought many attempts at unionization. According to Time magazine, Amazon has on several occasions hired law firms and consultants that specialized in countering attempts to organize among employees.
Managers must have distributed anti-union material and also received training in how best to sniff out union discussions among staff.
3. Monitoring and control
Back in 2013, Amazon was accused of using scanners to monitor staff at a warehouse in Wales. If the data from the scanners showed that you did not pick up the orders fast enough, you could be penalized.
In 2019, Amazon took out a patent for a wristband that measures employee movement patterns. The bracelet registers where in the room the employee is, but can also control the wearer's hand movements. If the employee has his hand “in the wrong position”, the wristband senses this and sends out a vibration in the hand. The vibration acts as a direct indication of how one should instead stand in order to work as efficiently as possible. So far, the technology is not used in sharp mode.
