Amazon: Six People Killed in Amazon Warehouse by Tornado (2021-2022)

 

The remains of the Amazon warehouse in Edwardsville, Illinois after an EF-3 tornado. https://abc7chicago.com/

Case Controversy

In 1994, the online book retailer Amazon was founded by Jeff Bezos. Today, it is one of the largest e-commerce websites in the world that offers millions of products. Selling efficiency and profitably online has never been easier for established firms and even first-time entrepreneurs. With accumulating an over-abundant number of products over time, Amazon has built 110 warehouses within the U.S to store and distribute products to customers at any location in the least amount of time as possible. Each warehouse is operated by a minimum of 1,500 full-time employees with the addition of any part-time employees that consumer demand requires for smooth operation. In December 2021 at the Edwardsville, Illinois Amazon warehouse, a tornado touched down and destroyed half of one of the buildings on site. Unfortunately, six individuals’ remains were found by disaster relief teams after rummaging through the extensive damage. The biggest unanswered question is if this tragedy could have been avoided.

At about 8:35 p.m. on December 10, 2021, an EF-3 tornado touched down with 150 mph sustained winds that had ripped through the 1.1 million square foot warehouse. The Enhanced Fujita Scale classifies an EF-3 tornado as a strong storm that causes severe damage and is powerful enough to destroy well-concreated structures (NOAA). Before touchdown, there were an estimated 40 to 50 employees within the warehouse and multiple drivers still returning from their daily route. The first extreme weather warning was issued roughly 40 minutes before the tornado hit, according to firefighters and the Illinois governor (CNN). Amazon did acknowledge that the alerts were noticed by management, and they were ready to act and utilize the designated shelter-in-place areas. These areas were the small bathrooms throughout the warehouse, but management led employees to the north side of the warehouse on this occasion. Amazon did not comment as to whether the bathrooms were the best and safest spaces for employees to congregate in any shelter-in-place scenario.

As for the remaining Amazon delivery drivers that were returning from their route, they sought safety at the warehouse, but some only found death. According to Summer Paolini, a dispatcher for Boxify Logistics at the Edwardsville warehouse, as the weather worsened the drivers in route to the warehouse were told to park their vehicle in a designated area or just drive home (CNBC). However, a small handful of other drivers were told to return to the warehouse regardless of the weather. Experts say that the tornado likely formed only a few hundred feet from the warehouse with no efficient time for any person to react properly. The drivers that were told to return did so right before the tornado formed. They had no knowledge of where to seek proper shelter in this scenario. As they rushed into an entrance on the south side and hid, the tornado’s initial path favored the middle-south portion of the warehouse. The National Weather Service said that the extremely high winds from the rapidly intensifying tornado ripped the roof off the football field-size structure and the 11-inch-thick concrete walls fell in on themselves (BBC News).

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) opened its own investigation immediately after the tragedy occurred. OSHA’s investigation primarily consisted of making sure all regulations and standard codes were followed by Amazon. The investigation hit a dead end as there were no specific violations found. Factors like the construction of the warehouse are outside of OSHA’s jurisdiction. Fast forward to April 1, 2022, the House Committee on Oversight and Reform has launched a new investigation into Amazon’s labor practices around severe weather events that is focused on the Edwardsville warehouse fatalities (MSN). Numerous reports have been made that Amazon threatened to fire any employees that left their shift, the employees were not allowed to have their cellular devices on hand, and that dispatchers were to contact delivery drivers only with Amazon’s consent. Representatives in the House Committee are demanding documents on the company’s emergency preparedness requirements, the information on how the processes were executed at the warehouse on December 10^th, and all the communication records between managerial staff leading up to the tornado. All this documentation and information must be produced by April 14^th.

Amazon states that this investigation is unnecessary, and that their focus continues to be on supporting the employees, the families who lost loved ones, the surrounding community, and all those affected by the tornado (NY Times). Amazon said at the time of the tragedy that it was donating $1 million to the Edwardsville Community Foundation as well as providing relief supplies. No updates have been announced as to whether Amazon followed through with this statement. In recent developments, civil rights attorney, Ben Crump, who represented George Floyd’s family in 2020, has stated he is representing the families of the deceased employees along with any other traumatized or physically injured workers and their families. Crump stated, “The family members we represent are deeply distraught and want answers to their questions. We are seeking to determine if Amazon did everything in its power to warn employees of the incoming danger from the tornado and provide a designated safe area for employees to shelter," (ABC) which is a question asked by OSHA as well.

Benjamin Crump is a widely recognized lawyer who is most acknowledged for representing George Floyd's family. He is now representing the families of the deceased from the Amazon warehouse collapsing in 2021. https://www.yahoo.com

Stakeholders

The stakeholders within this case would include the company (Amazon), the employees/injured, the employees’ families, customers, the government, and the community. All eyes are on Amazon as their deadline date for information and documentation is approaching. The actions that CEO Andy Jassy takes will be an indication of the type of attitude and cooperation levels Amazon is willing to proceed with and overall will affect the company’s image. The injured Amazon workers that were identified as dead in this case were Deandre S. Morrow (28), Kevin D. Dickey (62), Clayton Cope (29), Etheria Hebb (24), Larry Virden (46), and Austin McEwen (26). Five were delivery drivers and one was a maintenance mechanic. The employees’ families of all individuals working on December 10^th were affected as their loved ones were knowingly in harms way, which caused unimaginable psychological strain. Amazon’s customers were affected as the destruction of the warehouse resulted in delayed deliveries of ordered products during the gift giving season of Christmas. Customers rely on Amazon to deliver products fast to their doorsteps and expect high value service for the prices they pay. The government is affected because the members of the House Committee are exerting their time and energy into a case that could have been avoidable, which distracts them from analyzing present day cases effectively. The government officials active in this case are Reps. Carolyn B. Maloney (NY), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY), and Cori Bush (MO). The community of Edwardsville is emotionally affected by the loss of loved ones that were inside the warehouse and physically affected by the destruction of their town from the tornado’s path.

Individualism

            Describing “Individualism,” Milton Friedman states, “The only goal of business is to profit, so the only obligation that the businessperson has is to maximize profit for the owner or the stockholders within the law of the land.” From Freidman’s views, we can see the possibilities and reasons why Amazon had kept their workers in the Illinois warehouse back in December 2021, even with the dangerous weather conditions that were at hand.

            When looking further into the legality side of things when it comes to the safety of the building and inclement weather procedures, Amazon did not commit any specific acts against the law or violations against the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in the initial investigation. However, they can be found civilly liable for negligence and possibly criminally liable for not allowing their employees to leave the plant before the tornado struck. With the re-investigation of the case in motion by the government in 2022, it is possible that there could be a class action suit against Amazon. A class action suit forms when there are so many plaintiffs suing Amazon that the Attorney General's office of the government will make one cumulative lawsuit. This is because all the plaintiffs in the lawsuit have the same interests.  

            After analyzing the general outline of the past and present legality aspects of the case, we can now determine whether Amazon's actions are deemed permissible or impermissible. Amazon's actions are currently deemed permissible, according to Friedman, because the initial investigation conducted by OSHA, after the tornado's devastation, found no actions or physical flaws that had violated any safety codes or regulations. This means Amazon was maximizing profits within the constraints of the law even though every employee's life was knowingly put at risk. The incident occurred in the month of December, and as we all know, Christmas is at the end of the month. In 2021, Amazon reported a gross profit of $54.577 billion for the quarter ending in December. This figure shows that December yields the highest profits of any quarter. If Amazon would have evacuated the warehouse based solely on the tornado warnings, the profit stream would have been negatively affected as millions in revenue would have been lost. Amazon acknowledged the tornado warnings that night and left it to chance if the tornado did touch down, but also had believed it could not be held accountable since it was a natural disaster that no human force can influence. On the contrary, Amazon’s actions would turn impermissible according to Friedman if the re-investigation initiated by the House Committee on Oversight and Reform leads to a class action lawsuit which could find Amazon’s actions to have been negligent. If found civilly liable or criminally guilty of negligence, Amazon would have to pay a colossal amount of money to the plaintiffs. This means that Amazon’s short-term mindset back in 2021 cost them long-term profits and could therefore be classified as stealing from the owner and stockholders of the company since Amazon will have to pay for the physical and emotional damage inflicted upon their employees and their family members.

Utilitarianism 

From a utilitarian standpoint, the administrative actions taken by Amazon on December 10^th  are deemed impermissible. Under utilitarianism, business actions should seek to maximize the happiness in themselves and others in the short-term as well as the long-term (Salazar 17). In the Amazon case, happiness was not maximized for many of the stakeholders, which makes the consequences from the company’s actions restrict the greatest good for the greatest number of individuals and therefore would be impermissible according to utilitarianism.

Amazon: In the short run, Amazon was maximizing its happiness and profits by allowing its employees to continue working before and up to the tornado forming. This case takes place during the month of December, which is the company’s peak season for inflowing revenue. With the complications of the destroyed warehouse and injured employees, Amazon has not maximized its happiness in the long run because of the loss of a distribution center that began losing them thousands of dollars by the minute, but also the negative press and government pressure that is following their wrongful actions.

Employees/Injured: All the employees that lost their lives have been stripped and exterminated of their happiness because Amazon kept them working during the tornado. The number of dissatisfied customers that did not receive their packages does not outweigh the lives of 6 employees. Regardless, the packages that customers would have been expecting would have been delayed anyway due to the destruction of the warehouse. Therefore, happiness was not maximized for these employees and Amazon was putting profit over the safety of their employees.

Employees’ Families: The employees’ families will have a chance at benefitting from this case because they are attempting to seek justice from Amazon’s negligent actions that will help maximize their long-term happiness. The direct family members of the individuals that died in the warehouse have filed a lawsuit against Amazon for the permanent emotional damage that has been inflicted upon them.

Customers: The customers that purchased their products from Amazon at the time of the initial destruction of the warehouse were negatively impacted because of the delay of receiving their orders, which counters the purpose of paying additional money for Amazon Prime two-day delivery service. This demonstrates that their short-term happiness was not maximized. This case does benefit the customers’ long-term happiness because Amazon can now use this as a first-generation problem, which allows the opportunity for in-depth analyzing to ensure the problems that arose will not likely happen again, thereby maximizing customers’ happiness in the future.

Government:  The government officials listed in the stakeholder’s section are state representatives whose salaries are composed of taxpayers’ money. The unethical decisions made by Amazon on the night of December 10th does not maximize the long-term happiness of these state representatives as it restricts their ability to protect the people that elected them from the issues arising each day. In addition, the money and resources they must utilize to investigate this tragedy could have been used for another issue or they may have a budget restriction that does not allow them to investigate as deeply as they would like.

The Community: It can be said that for many of the community members of Edwardsville, their short-term happiness was almost non-existent due to the broken relationships from the deaths of individuals after the tornado. Also, community members’ physiological needs were threatened with the destruction of Edwardsville, which triggers adrenaline and fear that overcomes people’s ability to psychologically function correctly. However, this does present an opportunity for a small portion of community members to maximize their happiness long-term. They can use this natural disaster to establish new roots in or outside of Edwardsville as the insurance money they have collected, and the Amazon/private donor funds will give them a financial cushion to do so.

Kantianism

The theory of Kantianism was created by Immanuel Kant. Kantianism has 4 basic elements and the 3 formulas of the Categorical Imperative; Formula of Humanity. The formula of Universal Law and the Formula of Autonomy. The Categorical Imperative is the Law of Rationality. I will only discuss and apply the Formula of Humanity. The basic elements are; act rationality, your actions must not be inconsistent or consider yourself exempted from the rules, help people make rational decisions and allow them to do so, you must respect all people’s individual needs and differences and their autonomy, and you must be motivated by Good Will and seek to do what is right simply because it is right. There are certain actions that come from good will and they are acting rationally and acting rightly motivated. The formula of humanity is “Act in such a way that you treat humanity, whether in your own person or in the person of another, always at the same time as an end and never simply as a means” (Kant, MM 429). You must treat humanity rationally and not treat people as mere means. An end is something valuable in itself, for its own sake. A means is something that is valuable as a way to get something else. “Our primary duty is, according to Kant, to act only in those ways in which the maxim of our acts could be made a universal law” (Desjardins 39). Maxims are the will to do an action to achieve a purpose.

In Amazon’s case, they did not meet the 4 basic elements of Kantianism and their actions are considered unethical. Amazon treated its employees as a mere means. Kantianism would respect the employee's individual rights and needs. During times such as a tornado, to follow Kantianism, you must respect the employee's needs at that time. The Formula of Humanity states that you must treat humanity always as an end and never as a means. Amazon failed to treat their employees as an end when they did not give employees proper training to be safe in weather-related incidents. Treating their employees as a mere means exploits the employee. Amazon used its employees for their own benefit. They took advantage of these employees during severe weather so that they could make their assigned quota. Amazon did not care about the process it took to meet the quotas, they only care about the end result. In this case, them not caring about what it took to meet the quota for that day resulted in employees being stuck in a warehouse during a deadly tornado. Amazon would be considered morally unethical in terms of Kantianism.

Virtue Theory

            Virtue theory is originally based on Aristotelian Functionalism. This theory believed something was good depending on what it is and if it fulfills its function well.  This is expanded on by Aristotelian Functionalism which states people who live good lives by functioning well will also live happy lives. The main way people ‘live good lives’ is by being virtuous. This is where the virtue theory comes from. Within the virtue theory there are four cardinal virtues: courage, honesty, temperance, and justice. Along with those there is one intellectual virtue called prudence. Any virtue including these cardinal virtues, depends on the thing’s function and the thing’s circumstance. Another key concept in virtue theory is the doctrine of the mean. This is explained by finding the middle of two extremes. For example, if cowardice and rashness were at two ends of a line, courage would fall in the middle. When following virtue theory, you should strive to reach that ideal middle point. Finally, one of the most important aspects of virtue theory is to realize that it is not enough to know what is virtuous or right, you must practice doing it. Someone is only truly good when it becomes automatic to them, which is the point everyone following the theory strives for.

In this Case if Amazon did not do everything in their power, even if that means by one small thing then it would be impermissible by the Virtue theory. It is Amazon's moral obligation to forget about the productivity of the business or the bottom line if their employees are in immediate danger. Carnegie Mellon, an economics professor stated, “The cost of the time to do the drills is also time they are not (moving) the packages,” he said. “They must think about these tradeoffs.” (PBS)This was in response to multiple employees stating they received no tornado drills or training. If Amazon really cared, they would have had the courage to use some time to properly train their employees. Their courage would then ensure employee safety and preparedness for the imminent threat of a tornado.

Additionally, if Amazon was honest, they would have treated their employees as people instead of a means to an end. According to Rachel Clayton “Everyone knows that all Amazon cares about is productivity” (BBC) she is not the only one that believes this. Many of their employees and family members have made statements that Amazon has made employees work through tornado warnings. It would not be too far off to believe that the company did that this time as well. If Amazon was honest the warnings would have gotten out immediately and all employees would have made it to the main shelter. Following the next virtue temperance, it would have been reasonable and expected for all employees to have to have the proper drills and training as stated before. Given that all these employees work hard and produce quality services for amazon, they deserved the last virtue, justice. This related to the company treating them with fair practices and not expecting them to work during tornado warnings as an anonymous employee stated, “Amazon workers in different parts of the US, said it was "inexcusable" that the company required people to work despite the tornado warning.” This is completely unreasonable and unjust for an employee of any company. If all these statements are true amazon would certainly not pass the virtue theory.

 On the other hand, the families of the victims would pass the virtue theory. They have been courageous enough to take legal action against one of the biggest companies in the world. They have done this by partnering with civil rights attorney Ben Crump. They are being honest and just want Amazon to do the same and release all the critical facts and details. They certainly have temperance by reasonably expecting Amazon to do the right thing in this situation which would be protecting the employees. Lastly, the families are seeking justice for their lost ones who were high working and quality workers. These families would certainly pass the virtue theory

Action Plan

            The ongoing issue with Amazon is that six employees were killed this past December from a tornado that collapsed one of its warehouses. The families and other employees believe Amazon did not do everything in their power to protect their workers that night. It is an unethical practice for Amazon to risk the wellbeing of their employees for more profit in which the actions also build up a negative brand image for the world to resent. In this scenario, for Amazon to make employees keep working during natural disaster warnings has cost them millions to date and perhaps millions more while the new investigation is being launched by the government. The new mission statement Amazon must use as a guide for the future is that the company should strive to provide the whole world with access to any product they desire while maintaining a safe work environment for the employees that distribute the products efficiently. Some core values we believe Amazon should follow are honesty, customer satisfaction, employee safety, dependability, and accountability.

The solution to ensure ethical productivity for unexpected future events that could potentially harm employees would be to immediately evacuate warehouses when warnings given by trained experts say it is no longer safe for human inhabitation. Amazon will want to develop new policies that each employee is prepared for so that procedures run smoothly instead of chaos taking over. Of course, the warehouse will not be operating while employees are evacuated and the customer order system will be at a halt. However, if Amazon were to develop a simple transfer of orders system, it could automatically send incomplete orders to the next closest warehouse to be fulfilled. This system would keep Amazon’s profit streams going, protect each employee's safety, and help ensure customer satisfaction with dependable service. Amazon does not need to remarket itself from the Illinois incident. The company just needs to show that they are making a conscious effort to ensure employee safety since they are still the leading online retailer to date with no signs of slowing in demand.

Amazon should create a new supervisor role where that person can oversee employee safety and training within the workplace. The supervisor could also make sure all employees and managers are up to date with specific safety drills such as sheltering for a tornado. Doing this would ensure that all employees have knowledge of what to do in a dangerous situation at the workplace. While adding this position, Amazon should also remove any manager or executive that played a role in the improper or lack of training in their employees. After that when new managers join Amazon, they could make sure they prioritize the workers’ safety over its profitability in dangerous situations.

Simple designated areas that should be continuously reminded to employees by specialized supervisors in case of an emergency to lower the risk of injuries.

Authors: Logan Los, Dillion Kohl, Thomas Gasbarro, Dylan Kaselouskas

References

ABC News, ABC News Network, https://abcnews.go.com/Business/dead-amazon-facility-tornado-pummels-illinois/story?id=81721932

Clark, Mitchell. “The Government Is Investigating Amazon's Severe Weather Event Rules Following Deaths.” MSN, 1 Apr. 2022, https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/the-government-is-investigating-amazon-e2-80-99s-severe-weather-event-rules-following-deaths/ar-AAVLBMI?ocid=uxbndlbing 

Hassan, Carma. “Six People Killed in Illinois Amazon Warehouse Collapse after Tornado.” CNN, Cable News Network, 12 Dec. 2021, https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/11/business/amazon-deaths-warehouse-tornado/index.html

Hooker, Lucy. “Amazon Criticized over Safety at Tornado-Hit Warehouse.” BBC News, BBC, 13 Dec. 2021, https://www.bbc.com/news/business-59641784 

Palmer, Annie. “Amazon Drivers Sought Safety at Warehouse as Tornado Hit but Found Only Death and Destruction.” CNBC, CNBC, 20 Dec. 2021, https://www.cnbc.com/2021/12/20/amazon-warehouse-in-illinois-hit-by-tornado-killing-6.html

Salazar, H. The Business Ethics Case Manual. n.d.

US Department of Commerce, NOAA. “The Enhanced Fujita Scale (EF Scale).” The Enhanced Fujita Scale (EF Scale), NOAA's National Weather Service, 23 Sept. 2021, https://www.weather.gov/oun/efscale

Weise, Karen. “House Committee Opens Investigation into Amazon's Labor Practices.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 1 Apr. 2022, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/01/technology/amazon-labor-practices.html 

Amazon: Pro-Union Smalls Fired at Amazon for Starting Union (April 2022)

 The Case:

Amazon is one of the world’s largest online retailers and continues to be one of the fastest-growing companies in the world. With massive fulfillment centers strategically placed throughout the country, they pride themselves on the ability to provide next-day or 2-day delivery for almost all items. Being established nearly 28 years ago has provided them with the ability to learn and experience new ways of doing business. While Amazon has changed and or modified their operations to adapt with modern day needs, they still have areas that require improvement. Although they do provide employees with above minimum wage pay, healthcare coverage and free tuition for college, many employees feel that this is not enough. One area of improvement is how they treat their employees as expendable objects. Having this mentality has created a major push for unionization of workers within fulfillment centers.

For years Amazon executives have stopped any attempts at unionization by implementing anti-union posters and pamphlets in warehouses. Employees and well recognized labor unions like the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) have tried to establish themselves within Amazon for years but have been unsuccessful (Solon NBC NEWS). RWDSU representatives have claimed that workers voted against unionization, due to the fact that they were victims of intimidation by Amazon associates. Seemingly every time a new laborer movement tries to unionize, there’s always a lack of voters or corruption in the voting process.

            As the COVID-19 Pandemic began to spread throughout the US, many people feared the outcome due to the unpredictability of the virus. With grocery stores running low on food, various stores and restaurants shutting down, retailers like Amazon were deemed as an essential business. This meant that workers were forced to meet their daily quotas while also trying to accommodate COVID-19 safety protocols and procedures. Christian Smalls, a supervisor in an Amazon fulfillment location in Staten Island, New York, was fired in March of 2020. After noticing the harsh working conditions and lack of safety protocols he decided to protest by organizing a walkout over the lack of worker protections (Selyukh NPR). At this time, he was suddenly discharged from the company for violating their safety protocols. This departure from the company was a shock to Smalls as he was only trying to improve the safety standards for himself and the employees during the start of the pandemic. The sudden departure reassures the fact that the company treats its employees as expendable objects.

            Smalls knew that he was fired as a result of his walkout just hours prior. The actions on behalf of Amazon did not sit well with Smalls as he knew he needed to stand up against the massive e-commerce. A short time after being fired he formed the Amazon Labor Union (ALU). Smalls did not have a huge financial backing or support like the RWDSU, so he utilized GoFundMe to generate support for his message. Using his personal experiences within the company and generated funds, he hosted informational events at bus stops and locations near the facility. These events allowed him to steadily attract members to his “grassroots union drive”. Smalls and his organizers “demanded higher wages, longer breaks, paid sick leave and paid time off for injuries sustained on the job” (Hsu NPR). While Amazon completely disagrees with the idea of unionization, Smalls and his supporters in the ALU argued, this needs to happen as they’re one of the richest retailers in the world.

Amazon completely opposes any unionization in their facilities as they have noticed the negative effect that a union can have on a business’s profitability and production. They feel that for 28 years they have produced jobs that allow for their employees to live a decent life, while having enough money to buy the things they want. Heather Knox an Amazon Spokesperson provided the companies reasoning for opposing unionization; “Our employees choose to work at Amazon because we offer some of the best jobs available everywhere we hire, and we encourage anyone to compare our total compensation package, health benefits, and workplace environment to any other company with similar jobs” (Hartmans Business Insider). Although they provide some of the best compensation for their workers, many employees like Smalls feel that the risk of working in the warehouses is not worth the reward. That is why Smalls is so adamant about establishing a union.

       On Friday, April 1, 2022 Smalls and fellow workers in the Staten Island facility voted to demonstrate that a majority of employees agreed with unionization. When the results were tallied it was clear that Smalls and his supporters were successful in their pro-union push. Miraculously, they established the first ever union at Amazon; The Amazon Labor Union. Currently the ALU includes 8,300 workers within the Staten Island warehouse. As a result of the union forming there are eight immediate changes that the workers are advocating for: (Health and Safety, Pay, Promotions, Overtime, Working Conditions, Transportation, Time, and Union-Busting), (Amazon Labor Union). These changes will alleviate some of the economic impact and current wage gaps in the company. 

Stakeholders:                                                                                      

The stakeholders in this specific case include the current employees, future employees, general public, top executives, and shareholders. Amazons’ reputation and future success can be affected by the actions of the ALU. Together these stakeholders play a critical part in the fulfillment center operations. The current employees are affected as they can face repercussions for wanting to join in voting for a union. While the current employees at the Staten Island fulfillment center won’t experience any issue, due to the fact of being in a union. Other warehouses across the country may experience issues as their employees are not in the ALU and therefore not protected by the rules and regulations of the union. Future employees can also be affected as a result of the union being formed. With the formation of a union at the Staten Island location, many new workers might apply for employment there as they see the benefits of working in a union. Being a part of a union is favorable as it allows employees to negotiate for better working conditions and benefits. 

The general public and top executives can be affected by the outcome of the ALU in the future. For example, if workers in the ALU and Amazon's executives are unable to agree upon safety standards, pay or benefits, there can be delays in production as a result of union workers striking. The shareholders of Amazon are at risk in the pro-union movement, as there seems to be uncertainty as to what can happen within other fulfillment centers across the country. One fear is that other fulfillment centers across the country will also unionize, resulting in a massive unionization movement throughout the whole company. Shareholders may view this change as good or bad if they disagree with the direction the company is heading. This can result in shareholders buying more shares of Amazon stock or selling off their shares, all depending upon if they see the company continuing to grow exponentially or decrease in size.  

Individualism:

Based on the ethical theory from Milton Friedman known as Individualism, theorizes that a company or owners sole ethical responsibility is to increase profits for owners or stockholders as long as they are obeying legal responsibilities. Tibor Machan took Friedman’s theory and included the statement that in order for Individualism to be ethical the actual goals of the business must not be to make a profit. (Salazar)

The reaction of Amazon for Chris Smalls trying to develop a union was not unethical according to Individualism. It was not necessarily illegal for Amazon to fire Smalls for starting the protest outside of the Staten Island facility since he broke protocol that Amazon set into place. Federal law states that “working time is for work, so your employer may maintain and enforce non-discriminatory rules limiting solicitation and distribution”(NLRB), so firing Smalls without the pandemic protocol would still be legal since he led chaos within the facility during working hours. Amazon tends to be “anti-union” because they feel it is in the best interest of the customers, shareholders, associate companies and it has been mentioned that they feel a direct employee to employer relation is better than a union, therefore according to Machan, their reaction to unions are not unethical as well. The lack of unions in the workplace potentially increases profits since the union can reduce production output on a day to day basis, ultimately diminishing the profit the company can make significantly.  By firing Smalls and attempting to prevent the unionization from occurring, from Amazon’s viewpoint they were protecting profits and eliminating an area of concern that would bring them down. From an Individualistic standpoint, the actions taken by Amazon were perfectly ethical and the right thing to do as long as the termination was legal. The leaked information about how they would use the publicity of the firing of Smalls’ to their benefit to prevent the talk of unions in the news as well as the workplace seems to have malicious characteristics for both Smalls’ termination as well as their anti-union tactics. The leaked information reveals unethical actions from an Individualistic approach because it is illegal to fire an employee for simply spreading union information and for personal gain motives.

Utilitarianism:

A utilitarian would view the outcome of the pro-union movement as the most ethical and beneficial outcome. Based upon the belief of a utilitarian, “a businesses actions should aim to maximize the happiness in the long run for all conscious beings that are affected by the business actions” (Salazar 17). Until the formation of the ALU a utilitarian would not view the actions as impermissible. The reason being that employees in the fulfillment center were not treated properly and faced consequences whenever they tried to bring attention to the issues they faced. On Amazon's behalf these actions were unethical from a utilitarian stand-point and unsafe from the perspective of the workers.

         Although a utilitarian views the actions as unethical, the executives and shareholders believe they’re providing excellent opportunities for their employees to maximize happiness without being in a union. Amazon continues to oppose unions and argue against them as they feel they do not have their employees’ best interests in mind. They feel that “Unions could lead to less collaborative relationships between employees and their supervisors, and could favor employees with seniority over new employees” (Hartmans Business Insider). With a union creating a divide between the workers and management, this would disrupt the principles and foundations that Amazon was founded upon. Many executives do not want an outside organization interfering with their internal business operations. They also fear that participating in a union will cost them more money than they can afford, thus limiting the high hourly rate and benefits employees are currently paid. This is the reason why some executives and shareholders oppose fulfillment centers from unionizing like the Staten Island fulfillment center did. 

Unlike the executives at Amazon a utilitarian would see the actions of the ALU as permissible. These actions are accepted as they will maximize the pleasure of the employees and minimize any pain and suffering that resulted from working in the fulfillment centers. With the little time and experience Christian Smalls had, he was able to create a union movement in one of the world’s largest e-commerce.

Shortly after establishing a union in the Staten Island fulfillment center, Smalls began to receive letters and emails from across the globe. Many of the letters came from current employees encouraging him to take the ALU to more fulfillment center locations. In an interview with National Public Radio Smalls stated; “the world is definitely paying attention now and these workers are paying attention now, which is the best thing possible because that’s exactly what we plan on doing…we want to spread like wildfire across the nation” (Selyukh NPS). By following through on his goal to establish a union that acts in the employee’s best interest, he was able to maximize happiness and promote the ideas that utilitarianism was founded upon.

A utilitarian would also agree with the pro-union movement as it results in long-term benefits for the workers. This unionization movement is just-in-time as currently there is a larger wage gap than ever before. The additional wages and benefits for union workers would take effect immediately, preventing any future cases similar to what Smalls experienced. By allowing unionization throughout all the fulfillment centers, Amazon would be making themselves a more attractive company for future employees and stockholders. Allowing employees to have a greater voice in the company, they must realize that employees will take their union agreement seriously as it maximizes their happiness in the long run. The pro-union movement may also result in more shareholders feeling inclined to purchase Amazon stock, as they know the company will operate with their employees’ interests in mind.  

Kantianism:

For this case, there were both positive and negative aspects when viewing it through the lens of Kantianism. One scenario that would be viewed as particularly negative was how Chris Smalls acted when he was trying to make a change within the company. He organized a protest in which many rules that Amazon had specifically put in regarding the pandemic were violated. Rules that had to do with social distancing, gathering during a quarantine, and size of the groups were all specific rules that were violated. A Kantian would not necessarily be pleased with Chris smalls because a key part of Kantianism is rational decision making. “Don’t act inconsistently in your own actions or consider yourself exempt from the rules.” (Salazar 5). It could be viewed that Smalls interpreted it as okay to exempt himself from the rules on the day he organized the protest which caused him to be fired initially.

  Another belief that Kantians have is to, “be motivated by Good Will, seeking to do what is right because it is right.” (Salazar 5). Smalls had good intentions with what he was attempting to do. He may have just not gone about it in the best way. He believed that how the company was handling their protocols with the COVID-19 pandemic was morally wrong. One of his major concerns was with how employees were being notified about quarantine and exposures within the work environment. In Smalls’ case, he had an exposure to someone with COVID-19 on March 11, 2020. Amazon failed to notify him about having to quarantine for nearly two weeks. They finally told him he was required to quarantine on March 28, 2020. This came so long after his exposure that the incubation period for the virus had actually ended. He wanted to make a change and he was motivated to help make a change for a better, safer work environment for him and his employees because it is the right thing to do which is something that follows along with Kantian ethics.

Looking at how the company handled the situation from the point of view of a kantian, Amazon did a very poor job with how they handled their protocols. Smalls was just one employee that stood up to them but he was not alone and was doing it for many employees within the company. The principle of Kantianism that Amazon did not follow was, “Respect people, their autonomy, and individual needs and differences”(Salazar 5). The pandemic was something that was new to everyone. People had all different ways of going about it and the top priority was making sure that everyone felt safe. There were a variety of ways in which this was accomplished but Amazon did not seem to care at first even though their employees tried to display their unhappiness. Amazon expected the rules they put in place to be done a certain way without taking into account any other ways of doing it. Many companies were able to respect people's individual needs during this time by ways of working on zoom or careful tracking of exposures, but Amazon failed to do things that way which is why it would be viewed negatively by Kantians.

Virtue Theory:

The virtue theory is an ethical theory that entails people shouldn’t focus on rules to follow but to instead focus on what your core values and personality traits would tell you to do (Ethical Theory, 2018). For example, if you are a person who is generally a compassionate person, act with compassion in all decisions you make. Virtue theorists believe that the way to truly find who you are as a person is to, “suggest that once you can imagine what a good person is like, you should behave in any situation as you think such a person would behave.” (Ethical Theory, 2018). Other ways to find yourself is to realize what characteristics truly make you flourish and to act off those. 

With this case regarding ALU vs. Amazon the virtue theorist would find most of what the ALU is doing as morally required. When Smalls led the walkout, it was because he acted based off who he was all about. Determination is what drove Smalls the most. His relentless determination is what led to all his decisions that he made in this case. After being fired by Amazon Smalls could’ve just given up and found a different job but instead stood his ground because that was just the type of person he was. He decided to start the bus stop barbeques and the GoFundMe because he was determined to see Amazon own up to their issues. Yes, the styles were unorthodox, but he needed to find a way to get to the workers and that was the only effective way he found. Based on the virtue theory Smalls made actions off who he was as a person which in this case is determined. He did what he thought was right and ran with it. He was even arrested by Amazon earlier this year for trespassing while they were delivering food and union materials to the warehouse parking lot. It doesn’t matter if somebody else thinks it wrong according to the theory because he was doing what he thought was right. According to Smalls, “Amazon doesn't become Amazon without the people, and we make Amazon what it is.” (Hsu & Selyukh, 2022) That quote alone explains his thought process and explains what his personality traits give off. What Amazon is doing on the other hand is impermissible according to the theory. Amazon’s slogan is Work Hard, Have Fun, Make History. That is what Amazon’s core principle values are supposed to be. According to the workers on the other hand Amazon is not actually acting according to those values. Two of three values are being instructed but one is not being hit at all according to employees. There is no fun to be had at Amazon. Not once has Smalls expressed how he’s had fun working at Amazon he only has ever talked about the tough work environment and how unfair the wages were. Apparently, he can’t be lying with over 2,000 of his colleagues being behind him. The virtue theory in this case would be in favor of Smalls and would be against Amazon.  

Action Plan: 

Amazon fulfillment centers across the nation are facing issues with employees being treated poorly and they need to implement actions to fix this problem. A labor union is an organized association of workers that is formed to protect the further rights and interests of the workers. The US has hundreds of labor unions operating in different industries throughout the country, however most people don't realize that unions are critical to creating equality and fair wages for employees. Not having a union established is unfair and unethical to the employees who want one and would benefit from having one at the world's largest online retailer. Without access to a union employees are affected as their wages, compensation plans and benefit packages are not enough. They are often inadequate as no one is there to fight or negotiate for the employees. The current issue is that Amazon does not act in favor of their employees and put their billion dollar profits before their employees. This is wrong because without the employees, the fulfillment centers would be unable to meet the current demand. Listening to the voices of the employees is critical as a union will meet their employees needs, while also operating ethically and being profitable for the company. 

Amazon's current mission statement is “we strive to offer our customers the lowest possible prices, the best available selection, and the utmost convenience’’ (Amazon). It’s obvious that the current mission statement is completely customer focused and mentions nothing about their employees. A new mission statement is needed in order to guide the company into a new era of employee focused improvements. We recommend that “Amazon devotes its resources and technologies to improving working conditions and resources for their employees, by allowing them to join the Amazon Labor Union”. This new mission statement still follows their original idea of providing customers with the best possible experience. But also provides their employees with the best possible care and benefits, as they are focused on their employees and strive to provide the best for them. 

As the Staten Island fulfillment center is now a part of the ALU several values they should abide by are: well-being for employees, trust, constant improvement, and teamwork. 

• Well-being for Employees - The safety and livelihood of their employees is more important than meeting production deadlines or daily quotas. Instead of treating employees as replaceable objects, they need to treat them as human beings with emotions. Amazon is responsible for the health and safety of their employees and they need to address this issue more than ever.   

• Trust - Creating a relationship between executives and employees allows for trust to be established. Allowing employees to freely communicate their concerns or observations to the fulfillment center managers / executives  allows for a connection to be made. 

• Constant Improvement - As new technologies and ways of doing business are constantly improving, this new to be considered in the workplace. Thus improving upon and limiting the strenuous or labor intensive activities employees do on a daily basis.   

• Teamwork - Communication between executives and employees allows for ideas and responsibilities to be shared throughout the company. This helps to reduce the stress some employees feel when they are given meticulous tasks. 

To ensure ethical productivity and monitoring of ethics at fulfillment centers across the nation, they need to take actions similar to how the ALU was formed by Christain Smalls. Having a union established and union representatives like Smalls allows employees to approach them with issues and or recommendations for improvements. The ALU also prevents executives from abruptly firing an employee, similar to what smalls experienced. 

Hiring someone that is experienced with ethical behavior or experienced in business ethics is critical to Amazon flourishing after the ALU movement. The person hired could use their knowledge and determine if tasks are unethical or how to improve these processes for employees. Hiring a production manager / analyst would allow them to make recommendations based on what they observe. They can also be critical in determining if a task should be substituted with a robot, this would prevent employees from doing monotonous or physically demanding tasks.

To promote having union workers in fulfillment centers, Amazon can advertise on boxes saying “This package was packed by union workers”. They can also create advertisements saying that they agree to increase the number of union workers or unionize a majority of fulfillment centers by 2028. To create a better relationship between the executives and employees they should also allow for employees to freely express their ideas and or protest whenever an agreement cannot be reached.     

Moving forward they will need to add upon their existing values to incorporate the ideas of their employees. Also new and current employees should not be threatened or forced to do things outside of their union agreement. Adhering to the union agreement established between the ALU and executives will promote greater business profits and productivity for the company. In turn more people will want to shop at Amazon as they agree with the idea of unionization and feel that employees are treated fairly. This plan conforms to the original mission statement because the company will still be producing great products that many people can enjoy, without violating the ethics and values of their employees. 

Authors:

Daniel Doyle 

Dominic Gallant

Andrew Huta

Logan Paranto

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