(Reuters) - Amazon.com (AMZN.O)
that made unlawful promises and threats during mandatory meetings to discourage unionizing at a New York City warehouse, a U.S. labor board said on Wednesday while banning employers from holding such meetings moving forward.
The National Labor Relations Board said that so-called "captive audience meetings," which have been legal for decades and are routine during union campaigns, illegally interfere with workers' rights to freely choose whether or not to unionize.
Employers can lawfully hold meetings to discuss unionizing if they are voluntary, workers are given advance notice of subjects to be discussed, and no attendance records are kept, said the board, whose members are appointed by the president. The board currently has a majority of Democratic appointees.
The NLRB said that Amazon managers solicited grievances and made implied promises to remedy them if workers rejected the union during mandatory meetings at the Staten Island warehouse known as JFK8 ahead of a 2022 union election. At other meetings, managers illegally threatened to withhold raises and benefits if the warehouse unionized, according to the decision.
Amazon also removed union-related posts on an internet message board and threatened to discipline a JFK8 employee if she re-posted them, the board found. Workers at the warehouse ultimately voted to join the Amazon Labor Union, making it the first and so far only Amazon facility to unionize.
Amazon and the union did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The board ordered Amazon to post a notice of the violations at the Staten Island warehouse.
Amazon can appeal the decision to a federal appeals court, which would add to a series of court battles between the e-commerce giant and the labor board.
Amazon has filed two lawsuits claiming the NLRB's structure is unconstitutional, joining several other companies including Elon Musk's SpaceX. Amazon's cases seek to block labor board proceedings against the company, including claims that it has illegally refused to bargain with the union at JFK8.
The NLRB's ban on captive audience meetings is likely to face legal challenges by employers, including claims that the ban violates businesses' free-speech rights.
The decision could also be overturned by the board when it gains a Republican majority, as the agency often reverses itself after changes in leadership. President-elect Donald Trump could have a Republican-led board in place as soon as next year.
At least 10 U.S. states including New York, California, and most recently Alaska have banned captive audience meetings or prohibited employers from disciplining workers who do not attend them.
The NLRB said its decision would only be applied moving forward and not to pending cases.
Australia's employment growth slowed in October after a strong run, but the jobless rate stayed low and underlying trends remained relatively healthy, suggesting there is little rush to cut interest rates.
Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Thursday showed net employment rose 15,900 in October from September when they jumped by a revised 61,300.
That was the smallest increase in seven months and came in under market forecasts for a 25,000 rise, but annual jobs growth still ran at a strong 2.7%. Gains were again driven by full-time roles.
The jobless rate held at a historically low 4.1%, where it has been since April, while the participation rate edged down to 67.1% from an all-time high of 67.2%.
National Australia Bank on Thursday pushed out its call for the first rate cut from the Reserve Bank of Australia to May from February given the overall strength in the labor market.
Other major Australian banks still tipped February for the start of the easing cycle.
"Given the data flow to date, it now looks unlikely the RBA will have enough confidence in the trajectory of inflation by then. There is a real risk that policy rates stay on hold even deeper into 2025," NAB analysts said in a note.
There was muted market reaction, with the Australian dollar little changed at $0.6485 and three-year bond futures also unchanged at 95.78. Markets maintained bets that a first easing in Australia would come most likely in May or July next year.
The RBA has held its policy steady for a year now, judging the current cash rate of 4.35% - up from 0.1% during the pandemic - is restrictive enough to bring inflation to its target band of 2-3% while preserving employment gains.
With the labor market surprisingly strong, the prospects of a near-term rate cut are slim. The central bank has said monetary policy will stay restrictive until it is confident inflation is moving sustainably to target.
Headline inflation slowed to 2.8% in the third quarter but that was only due to government electricity rebates. Underlying inflation remained high at 3.5%.
Markets imply just a 10% chance the RBA might cut at the last meeting of the year on Dec. 10 and only a 28% probability of a move at its following meeting in February.
The job report showed hours worked rose 0.1% in October, up for a fifth straight month, while the underemployment rate eased 0.1 percentage point to 6.2%.
"I think it does nothing really but underscore a pretty resilient, firm labor market that continues to err on the tight side. So despite a miss on headline employment... it is still a very decent result all around," said Su-Lin Ong, chief economist at RBC Capital Markets.
"I think from the perspective of the Reserve Bank, we would argue that... you need to see some loosening up in this labor market before they will feel comfortable cutting rates."