Since the N.L.R.B.’s leaders cannot be removed by the president, Amazon claims, its structure is unconstitutional, depriving Amazon of its right to due process and its right to a fair trial.
Amazon has filed a lawsuit challenging the legality of the National Labor Relations Board, claiming that the federal agency interfered in a union election that took place at a company warehouse more than two years ago.
According to The Associated Press, the complaint was filed in a Texas-based federal court last Thursday. Attorneys for Amazon reiterated arguments and lines of defense made earlier this year, after the N.L.R.B. accused the company of maintaining anti-unionization policies.
Amazon is now on the offensive, saying that the National Labor Relations Board violated federal policy when it filed its own lawsuit against Amazon in March 2022. The complaint, which was filed on behalf of a union organizer who had lost his job, was submitted less than a week before employees at a Staten Island warehouse were slated to participate in union elections.
In its most recent filing, Amazon argues that the N.L.R.B.’s lawsuit constituted improper interference in the company’s internal matters. Attorneys emphasized that the N.L.R.B. refused to review Amazon’s objections to prior rulings, effectively cutting it off from further legal recourse.
Amazon’s lawsuit notes that the four Board members who authorized an injunction against Amazon’s conduct later served as judges—and signed off on the order refusing to review Amazon’s objections.
Since the N.L.R.B.’s leaders cannot be removed by the president, Amazon claims, its structure is unconstitutional, depriving Amazon of its right to due process and its right to a fair trial.
Other companies, writes The Associated Press, have also challenged the Board’s structure in separate laws. SpaceX and Trader Joe’s, for instance, both have pending claims against the National Labor Relations Board.
For its part, the N.L.R.B. has said Supreme Court precedent protects its policies.
“While the current challenges require the N.L.R.B. to expand scarce resources defending against them, we’ve seen that the results of these kinds of challenges is ultimately a delay in justice, but that ultimately justice does prevail,” said N.L.R.B. spokesperson Kayla Blado, who pointed toward a 1937 Supreme Court ruling that fund the Board’s structure entirely constitutional.
Labor advocates have indicated that mounting claims against the N.L.R.B. show that corporations are afraid of unionization.
“Since they can’t defeat successful union organizing, they now want to just destroy the whole process,” said Seth Goldstein, an attorney who represented pro-unionization advocates at Amazon and Trader Joe’s.
Amazon is seeking a court order prohibiting the National Labor Relations Board from conducting or enforcing any further “unconstitutional” administrative proceedings against the company, at least until its claim has been resolved.
Sources
Amazon argues that national labor board is unconstitutional, joining SpaceX and Trader Joe’s
Amazon challenges US labor board’s structure in lawsuit over union election
Amazon says in a federal lawsuit that the NLRB’s structure is unconstitutional
Join the conversation!