The online retailer last year terminated the employment of
Emily Cunningham and Maren Costa, who accused the company of enforcing policies
in a discriminatory fashion and having vague rules that "chill and
restrain" staff from exercising rights, according to their charge filed in
October, seen by Reuters.
The board said on Monday that its regional director in
Seattle will issue a complaint if the parties do not settle the case.
The decision comes at a delicate moment for Amazon as it
awaits the outcome of its Bessemer, Alabama, workers' vote on whether to make
their warehouse the company's first unionized facility in the country.
Cunningham and Costa, who gained prominence for pushing the
company to do more on climate change, about a year ago questioned Amazon's
pandemic safety protocols and worked to raise money for warehouse staff at risk
of contracting COVID-19.
In a statement, Amazon said it supports workers' rights to
criticize work conditions, but that doing so does not absolve staff of breaking
lawful rules. "We terminated these employees not for talking publicly
about working conditions, safety, or sustainability, but rather, for repeatedly
violating internal policies," it said.
Amazon on Monday did not specify what those polices were.
Cunningham and Costa did not immediately comment. Marc
Perrone, international president of the UFCW union whose local unit helped file
the charge, said in a statement: "Today is a reminder that Amazon will
break the law to silence its own workers who speak out."
The New York Times earlier reported the news.