Amazon suspended at least 50 workers at the JFK8 warehouse in Staten Island on Tuesday, 4 October. The move comes as retaliation for a union-organized work stoppage in response to unsafe working conditions. The Amazon Labor Union released a statement demanding that the company stop the retaliatory suspensions and start negotiating contracts for a safer workplace.

Sources report that a fire broke out in a trash compactor unit the day before, which required the facility to be evacuated, the fire department called in, and the day shift sent home to recover. While smoke still hung in the air, leadership at the New York warehouse ordered the incoming night shift to their posts. CNN spoke to picker Connor Spence about the conditions on the floor: 

When night shift workers arrived, they were “not really told what was going on,” Spence said. Eventually, he said, managers began telling the employees to get back to their work.

“The issue that people had was the building still reeked with smoke, it was difficult to breathe at some workstations,” Spence said. “We wanted to be sent home with pay because it was unsafe.”

Around 100 workers participated in a work-stoppage late Monday. Mass suspensions were announced the following day. 

While collective action, such as work-stoppages, is protected under the National Labor Relations Act, Amazon’s punitive response is consistent with its general approach to union activity. The multi-national e-commerce giant has so far failed to recognize the Amazon Labor Union and has been charged with a host of union-busting violations in recent months. The NLRB has confirmed the merit of many of these charges. 

On the other hand, industry observers note that corporate leadership at a company with pockets as deep as Amazon may prefer to pay the relatively modest costs of committing labor rights violations in the short term, if it will save them from transitioning to a more equitable and democratic business model in the long term.

Amazon’s public statement regarding the fire and mass suspensions sought to minimize the scope of the incident, characterizing the participants in the work-stoppage as a “small group.” The footage taken on the scene tells a different story.

The attempt to downplay the affair is helpful for understanding Amazon’s PR strategy. The company’s deep pockets can buy it high-priced union-busting consultants, but money is a less reliable purchaser of positive public opinion. In a moment when public approval of unions is at its highest point since 1965, even a behemoth monopoly like Amazon should tread carefully when its workers make their voice heard.