this is something the previous nlrb was not doing.eful there is a little bit of an opening for protecting worke. that being said, do need to pass a lot of different legislation, we need to fund the nlrb more. the nlrb needs to get more assertive in the ways that it is helping workers because the loss as they arare very broken. jill biden did invite our president chris smalls to the whte house. chris smalls laidut t things that need to be done. amy: 10 seconds. >> he needsto do somethg. we cannot get the product on, that he needs to signn executive order right away. we need help. all workers do. amy: we want to thank you both for being with us, mat cusick and tristan "lion" dutchin, fired this month after the first successful organizing effort in amazon's history. ñçñçñçóiói?omqmqmqmq . ♪ >>> hello and welcome back to ö nhk "newsline." i'm takao minori in new york. >>> ukrainian leaders look at the map of their country and see their forces experiencing different fortunes. they report what they call good news from those fighting in the

in order to stall the process out the lawyers have appealed the decision to the nlrb and the strategy is off these i look forward to discussing that with the panelist to stall and stall and stall. and in everyhe way possible they are refusing to negotiate a contract with the amazon labor union so today my question to jeff basophils was worth $150 billion is pretty simple and itak speaks to the corporate greed and excessive greed we see right now in america. you have enough money to buy a 500 million-dollar yacht and enough money to buy a 175 million-dollar estate in beverly hills and a 23 million-dollar mansion right here in washington dc. with all of your wealth how much do you need? why are you doing everything in your power including breaking the law to deny amazon workers the right to join a union so they can negotiate for better wages , better working conditions and better benefits? how much do you need? the answer is not complicated what he understands of what he is fighting isun the reality that union workers in america earn about 20 percent more than union workers on average a

to date there are currently 59 cases against amazon pending at the nlrb. amazon is currently being sued to reinstate a worker who was illegally fired for organizing a union. several current and former employees have alleged that amazon has engaged in illegal harassment and discrimination based on race, gender and sexual orientation and that's not all. amazon has already been penalized more than $75 million for breaking federal labor laws. amazon mis- classifies delivery drivers as independent contractors rather than employees to evade tax wave and benefit responsibilities. amazon inadequate workplace safety policies also pose grave risks to workers and i hope we will be able to discuss that a little bit today. if you can believe it, and mr. graham, senator graham, this is rather astounding according to a "new york times" investigation, amazon has a 150% turnover rate. workers come into these warehouses, they are worked as hard as humanly possible and then they leave and a whole set of new workers then comes into replace them. is that the kind of business m

we have the nlrb act that says you have to have a campaign. it says you have to have an election.o so if the union wins the election, shouldn't there be a contract? it would seem if the union wins the election shouldn't there be a contract? well, the average number of days it takes after the union wins the election, they don't always win, the average number of days to get to a contract is 409 days. and about one third of the victorious unions cannot get a contract in the first three years because the employer stonewalls. the pro act requires that after there has been a democratic determination by the workers they want the union, you have to produce a contract within a certain timeframe, it has to go to arbitration. that seems fair to me, otherwise you are not respecting democratic desire to form a union. the chairman came down to virginia to celebrate the unionization of five richmond starbucks. another one in farmville, virginia, just unionized a couple of days ago. i strongly support the right. if you want a union, you should have it. once they voted to have a union, they should

, and get a decision from the nlrb judge.by that time, the damage is already done. not just two the person wrongfully fired, but also to the organizing effort that we have just got. we have to dramatically improve on this system, that is why we want to provide additional resources to the nlrb, and make other reforms. i chaired a hearing earlier this week, in the appreciate -- a subcommittee called the financial services and financial government subcommittee. i discussed with the irs that we need to de-barr, we already prevent federal contractors who do not pay their taxes. it makes sense, if you are not paying your taxes on time, you should not benefit from a contract where the tax players are funding. we will also hear from the g.a.o. on the second panel, the federal contractors can also be de-barred for violation of the service contract act. and the existing acquisition regulations provided for the barring federal contractors, who, for any of events, a lack of business integrity, or honesty. mr. leroy, given that we already

here is how an nlrb administrative judge described amazon's review of mr. bryson's conduct that led to his illegal firing. i am quoting now from the judge. "an ostrich-like head in the ground investigation that speaks to a void of evidence, mitigating the employees misconduct or, -- mitigating the employees misconduct." that is why the judge ordered amazon to pay mr. bryson back pay. why do you believe amazon fired mr. bryson? mr. smalls: a few things. number one, he is black. number two, he was protesting alongside myself and others over covid-19, which was running rampant at the time. new york was the epicenter. they wanted to criticize the organizers advocating for that. myself included. i am still unemployed as we speak. >> when a company like amazon take that type of retaliation for a protest, does that make it more difficult for you to organize? mr. smalls: of course it does. it is an intimidation tactic. they fire the people speaking up. >> here's the thing about our system, it took two years, or a little longer than two years for this particular cas

today there are currently 59 unfair labor cases against amazon pending at the nlrb. amazon is currently being sued by the lrp to reinstate a worker who was illegally fired forreinstating a union . several current and former employees allege amazon has engaged in harassment and discrimination based on race, gender and sexual orientation and that's not all. amazon has already been penalized for more than $75 million for breaking federal discrimination and labor laws. amazon does classifies delivery drivers and as independent contractors rather than employees to evade tax wageand benefits . amazon inadequate workplace safety policies also pose grave risks to workers and i hope to be able to discuss that a littlebit today . if you canbelieve it , and mister graham this is really rather on astounding in fact. according to a new york times investigation amazon has 150 percent turnover rate. 150 percent. workers come into these warehouses. their work is hard ashumanly possible . often crushed. and all set of new workers that comes in to replace them . is that really the kin

what resources do you and other agencies like the nlrb and the office of solicitor required to fully implement those recommendations from task ? >> i have a meeting later today to talk about the task force. it's our first follow-up since report commit. i do have the exact number what we need for any resources you want allocate that way i will gladly take them and that's not a snide comment. it's reality of the situation. but let me have a meeting today and after get a chance to understand exactly what departments varies we need i think i would love to come back to. >> we are in the middle of doing next years budget so please do that. also i found it very exciting new way of organizing. you and i come from the labor background have seen a lot of traditional labor organizing in the past but now we're seeing it at starbucks and target and trader joe's and amazon and the videogame industry and a lot of other industries that haven't seen it before. one campaign of watching particularly close is a quality assurance workers at raven software company in my district which has a captive audien

union reps are out with a letter filing a charge with the nlrb against starbucks and interim ceo, howard union alleges in the filing that starbucks, via comments made by schultz violated the national labor relations act comments were made to u.s. store leaders last month that they were reviewing benefits program and that new benefits couldn't be extended to stores that haven't been unionized without separately contracts said they had an immediate and profound chilling effect nationwide it offers workers to testify that starbucks baristas read about the comments shortly before voting and some pulled is support last minute. as a result, costing a union win at one location in virginia and claims store managers have quote parroted the comments have having a coerse vs effects and saying, quote, this is not a matter of howard's choice or opinion. this is the law. any new benefit cannot be unilaterally given to stores that voted to unionize during a collective bargaining. howard remains to build the future of starbucks with partners side by side. really, for the first time, the unio scholz acti

what resources do you and other agencies like the nlrb.o fully implement those recommendations from the task force. >>ti it is the first follow-up and have the exact number at is the reality of the odsituation. but let me have a meeting today and after i have a chance than i can come back to you. >> . >> i found it very exciting. >> and with the labor background with theiz traditional organizing path so with trader joe's and amazon and those that have not seen it before the raven software about those other unionbusting tactics one of the recommendations of that report is to update the rules can you explain how an update will help to protect and empower workers and what resources do you need to make that update quick. >> i cannot get too much into it with the rulemaking process right now. but talking to workers who are disgruntled. and last month four.7 million peopleey just a little off-topic the job training. we have to do that for the economy we cannot continue and economy. meant to earn more many with access to better paying jobs. and t

results still need to be certified by the nlrb. the amazon labor union representative will challenge the outcome. possiblitive news in one case fr ae amazon, but not so >> this is another issue if you look at the vote far more voted against it than for it far more people didn't vote than people who voted for it. there are 1,600 employees there. this is where it will come down to the line. all of the national headlines and riding on a few hundred people again, apathy is the biggest vote it is time after time almost more people don't vote than vote in some of the elections they have, too. >> what do you do? do you think a non-vote is a vote against the union or for the union? i look at a non-vote as likely against it than for it it is not really against it. >> right it is hard to see the challenges that come on these things when you have twice as many people who voted no and twice as many people, almost, who didn't vote. you will see challenges again and again. it does catch headlines. this is an important time for the labor movement