Labor-Rights

4.3 million workers could lose overtime protections

| Importance: 6/10

Trump administration moves to revert to weak Trump-era overtime threshold ($35,568) from Biden’s $58,656 rule, stripping overtime protections from 4.3 million workers per Economic Policy Institute. Project 2025 also proposes calculating overtime over 2-4 week periods instead of weekly, and …

Trump Administration Department of Labor overtime-protections labor-rights regulatory-rollback project-2025 worker-protections
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Labor leaders fear Elon Musk and DOGE could gain access to whistleblower files

| Importance: 7/10

The AFL-CIO and former OSHA officials filed a lawsuit warning that Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) operatives are embedded at the Department of Labor, potentially gaining access to sensitive whistleblower files. Musk’s companies—Tesla, SpaceX, and The Boring …

Donald Trump Trump Administration Elon Musk AFL-CIO Department of Labor regulatory-capture ethics-violation corporate-influence tech-industry labor-rights
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Nationwide Legal Defense Network Expands Operational Capacity

| Importance: 8/10

A comprehensive nationwide legal defense network was established to provide coordinated legal support across multiple jurisdictions. The Rise Up: Federal Workers Legal Defense Network, formed by labor unions and civil rights organizations, mobilized over 1,000 lawyers in 42 states to offer pro bono …

National Legal Defense Consortium State-Level Legal Aid Organizations Civil Rights Attorneys AFL-CIO Democracy Forward +3 more legal-infrastructure civil-rights-defense multi-jurisdictional-support labor-rights federal-workers-protection
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Executive Order on Federal Collective Bargaining Exclusions

| Importance: 6/10

EO on federal collective bargaining exclusions issued; OPM guidance and White House fact sheet published exempting agencies with national security missions from federal collective bargaining requirements

Donald Trump White House Office of Personnel Management (OPM) executive-order collective-bargaining federal-workforce national-security labor-rights
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Amazon Refuses to Negotiate with JFK8 Union After NLRB Certification - Stalls Contract for Over a Year

| Importance: 9/10

Amazon Refuses to Negotiate with JFK8 Union After NLRB Certification - Stalls Contract for Over a Year

On January 11, 2023, the National Labor Relations Board officially certified the Amazon Labor Union’s historic April 2022 election victory at the Staten Island JFK8 facility, formally …

Amazon Amazon Labor Union Christian Smalls National Labor Relations Board Union Organizing Worker Exploitation Amazon Labor Rights Corporate Accountability +1 more
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Amazon Defeats Second Staten Island Union Vote at LDJ5 Facility 618 to 380

| Importance: 7/10

Amazon Defeats Second Staten Island Union Vote at LDJ5 Facility 618 to 380

On May 2, 2022, workers at Amazon’s LDJ5 sorting facility on Staten Island voted 618 to 380 against joining the Amazon Labor Union (ALU), delivering a significant defeat to the upstart union just one month after its …

Amazon Christian Smalls Amazon Labor Union Union Organizing Worker Exploitation Amazon Labor Rights
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Amazon Injury Rate Double Warehouse Industry Average - 6.8 Per 100 Workers

| Importance: 9/10

Amazon Injury Rate Double Warehouse Industry Average - 6.8 Per 100 Workers

On April 12, 2022, the Strategic Organizing Center (SOC)—a coalition of four major labor unions—released a comprehensive report analyzing Amazon’s worker injury rates using federal OSHA data. The report revealed that …

Amazon Strategic Organizing Center Worker Exploitation Corporate Accountability Amazon Labor Rights Worker Safety
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Amazon JFK8 Workers Vote to Form Company's First U.S. Union in Historic Victory

| Importance: 10/10

Amazon JFK8 Workers Vote to Form Company’s First U.S. Union in Historic Victory

On April 1, 2022, workers at Amazon’s massive JFK8 fulfillment center on Staten Island voted 2,654 to 2,131 to form the Amazon Labor Union (ALU), creating the first unionized Amazon facility in the United …

Jeff Bezos Amazon Christian Smalls Amazon Labor Union Union Organizing Worker Exploitation Amazon Labor Rights Corporate Accountability
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Six Amazon Workers Killed in Edwardsville Warehouse Tornado Collapse

| Importance: 10/10

Six Amazon Workers Killed in Edwardsville Warehouse Tornado Collapse

On December 10, 2021, an EF-3 tornado struck Amazon’s DLI4 delivery facility in Edwardsville, Illinois, causing catastrophic structural damage that killed six workers: Deandre S. Morrow (28), Kevin D. Dickey (62), Clayton …

Jeff Bezos Amazon Worker Exploitation Corporate Accountability Amazon Worker Death Labor Rights
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NLRB Hearing Officer Rules Amazon Illegally Interfered in Bessemer Election, Recommends New Vote

| Importance: 9/10

NLRB Hearing Officer Rules Amazon Illegally Interfered in Bessemer Election, Recommends New Vote

On August 2, 2021, a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) hearing officer issued a recommendation finding that Amazon had illegally interfered in the April 2021 union election at its Bessemer, Alabama …

National Labor Relations Board Amazon Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union Union Organizing Worker Exploitation Amazon Labor Rights Corporate Accountability +1 more
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Amazon Defeats Bessemer Union Vote 1,798 to 738 After Intensive Anti-Union Campaign

| Importance: 9/10

Amazon Defeats Bessemer Union Vote 1,798 to 738 After Intensive Anti-Union Campaign

On April 9, 2021, vote counting concluded in the historic union election at Amazon’s Bessemer, Alabama warehouse (BHM1), with workers decisively rejecting unionization by a margin of 1,798 votes against to 738 …

Jeff Bezos Amazon Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union Union Organizing Worker Exploitation Amazon Labor Rights Corporate Accountability
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Amazon Warehouse Worker Billy Foister Dies on Warehouse Floor After Heart Attack

| Importance: 9/10

Amazon Warehouse Worker Billy Foister Dies on Warehouse Floor After Heart Attack

On September 2, 2019, Billy Foister, a 48-year-old Amazon warehouse worker, suffered a fatal heart attack at the Amazon fulfillment center in Etna, Ohio. According to his brother and coworkers, Foister lay on the …

Jeff Bezos Amazon Billy Foister Worker Exploitation Corporate Accountability Amazon Worker Death Labor Rights
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Amazon Raises Minimum Wage to $15 But Eliminates Bonuses and Stock Options

| Importance: 8/10

Amazon Raises Minimum Wage to $15 But Eliminates Bonuses and Stock Options

On October 2, 2018, one month after Bernie Sanders introduced the “Stop BEZOS Act,” Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos announced the company would raise its minimum wage to $15 per hour for all U.S. employees, effective …

Jeff Bezos Amazon Worker Exploitation Corporate Accountability Amazon Labor Rights
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Bernie Sanders Introduces "Stop BEZOS Act" Targeting Amazon Wages

| Importance: 8/10

Bernie Sanders Introduces “Stop BEZOS Act” Targeting Amazon Wages

On September 5, 2018, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) introduced the “Stop Bad Employers by Zeroing Out Subsidies Act”—the “Stop BEZOS Act”—legislation designed to force large corporations like Amazon …

Bernie Sanders Jeff Bezos Amazon Ro Khanna Worker Exploitation Corporate Accountability Amazon Political Response Labor Rights
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Amazon Workers in Germany Strike During Black Friday for Union Recognition

| Importance: 7/10

Amazon Workers in Germany Strike During Black Friday for Union Recognition

In November 2014, Amazon workers in Germany organized by the Ver.di union launched strikes during Black Friday, one of Amazon’s most profitable shopping periods, as part of an escalating labor dispute that had begun in …

Jeff Bezos Amazon Ver.di Union Worker Exploitation Labor Rights Union Organizing Amazon International
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Amazon Lehigh Valley Warehouse Heat Exhaustion Scandal Exposed

| Importance: 8/10

Amazon Lehigh Valley Warehouse Heat Exhaustion Scandal Exposed

On September 18, 2011, The Morning Call newspaper published a landmark investigation exposing brutal working conditions at Amazon’s warehouse in Breinigsville, Pennsylvania (Lehigh Valley). The investigation revealed that during …

Jeff Bezos Amazon Worker Exploitation Corporate Accountability Labor Rights Amazon
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