Labor board rules Amazon can't require employees to attend anti-union meetings

Nov. 14 (UPI) -- The National Labor Relations Board has ruled it is illegal to force union-backing employees to attend meetings held by their companies that are designed to undermine support and argue against the labor groups.

The NLRB called them mandatory "captive audience" meetings, and overturned the so-called Babcock rule, which the NLRB enacted in 1948 that allowed for companies to require employees to attend anti-organizing meetings.

The ruling stems from a case at Amazon's facility in Staten Island where workers voted to unionize in 2022, and the company reacted by holding a series of mandatory anti-union meetings for employees.

The NLRB ruled that requiring workers to attend anti-union gatherings violates protections offered by the federal labor law that allow them to choose whether, when and how to participate in a debate about union representation -- including not attending them at all.

"Ensuring that workers can make a truly free choice about whether they want union representation is one of the fundamental goals of the National Labor Relations Act," Chair Lauren McFerran said in a statement. "Captive audience meetings -- which give employers near-unfettered freedom to force their message about unionization on workers under threat of discipline or discharge -- undermine this important goal."

Amazon has been fighting union organizing efforts for several years and recently sued the NLRB over its policies.

The NLRB's action could be short-lived, however. Some have speculated President-Elect Donald Trump will revert to the previous status and allow Amazon and other companies opposed to unions to require their employees to attend meetings targeting labor- organizing efforts.