Amazon Labor Ruling Outlaws Mandatory Anti-Union Meetings

Mandatory “captive audience” meetings in which companies argue against unionization are illegal, the National Labor Relations Board ruled in a case involving Amazon.com Inc., prohibiting one of employers’ most potent weapons against labor organizing campaigns.

Requiring workers to attend anti-union gatherings violates federal labor law protections that allow workers to freely choose whether, when, and how to participate in a debate about union representation—including refraining from doing so, the NLRB’s Democratic majority held in its Wednesday ruling.