Unions to step up efforts at Amazon Australia after worker sacked
Two unions have formed an alliance to organise workers at Amazon Australia after the first worker at its Sydney fulfilment centre to join a union was sacked.
Raj, a forklift driver employed through labour hire company Adecco, has launched a general protections case in the Fair Work Commission claiming he was dismissed from his job due to union activity.
Raj is being represented by his union – the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association (SDA) – which has joined forces with the Transport Workers Union (TWU) to organise workers on Amazon sites.
Amazon launched in Australia in late 2017, drawing immediate criticism from unions for its decision to hire warehouse workers through Adecco on award rates rather than directly employ workers and bargain with them collectively.
Raj, an experienced warehouse worker, was the first employee at the Sydney centre to join the SDA, followed by a number of others.
Raj and the SDA allege that he was directed not to wear a union cap and lanyard to work and Adecco representatives objected to union organisers distributing promotional union material to workers. The company denies those claims.
Raj got in a dispute with his employer after he repeatedly asked for more hours. He met a union official in the Amazon Sydney fulfilment centre on 5 October, while a member of management was present in the lunch room.
Adecco dismissed him on 9 October, but denies that the refusal to grant him more hours and the dismissal were motivated by his union activity. Raj claims Adecco told him it was happy with his work.
“It is unfair treatment just because I’m in the union,” he said. “I need to pay the bills … so I need a job, without a job you can’t survive.
“What happened to me was not fair. I just want to get back to work at Amazon.”
A spokeswoman for Adecco said: “Adecco respects our workers’ rights to freedom of association, and the exercise of such rights. In no circumstances would Adecco take action against our workers for exercising these rights.”
The SDA New South Wales secretary, Bernie Smith, said: “We are not going to accept the sacking of a worker, who joined the union, who just wants to work enough hours to support his family.
“We have serious concerns about Amazon from what we have heard from unions overseas,” he said.
In November Amazon was hit by protests in the UK led by the GMB union over complaints about its warehouse working conditions, including claims workers do not have enough time for bathroom breaks.
The Transport Workers Union national secretary, Michael Kaine, said the unions would “not tolerate the downgrading of jobs in Australia by Amazon”.
“Our aim is to ensure Amazon workers in Australia are highly organised and acutely aware of their own rights and the company’s responsibilities.”
A spokesman for Amazon said the allegations about working conditions by the SDA are “untrue and sensationalist”. “Amazon respects its associates right to choose to join or not join a labour union,” he said.
The SDA and TWU have formed the online retail and delivery workers alliance to organise in the growing online shopping market, following global moves to create an alliance of unions to organise at Amazon. In May Amazon struck its first direct agreement with a union in Italy.
The Fair Work Act prohibits adverse action against workers based on industrial activity, such as joining a union.
The Fair Work Commission had a preliminary hearing on Raj’s case on 29 November which did not resolve the dispute, which is likely to head to a federal court in the new year.