NEW YORK — An inner Amazon memo has offered a stark have a look at the corporate’s fastidiously laid out plans to develop its affect in Southern California by means of a plethora of efforts that embody burnishing its repute by means of charity work and pushing again towards “labor agitation” from the Teamsters and different teams.
The eight-page doc – titled “community engagement plan” for 2024 – offers a uncommon glimpse into how one in every of American’s greatest firms executes on its public relations goals and makes an attempt to curtail reputational hurt stemming from criticisms of its enterprise. It additionally illustrates how Amazon goals to methodically court docket native politicians and neighborhood teams with a view to push its pursuits in a area the place it might be hampered by native moratoriums on warehouse improvement, and it’s going through resistance from environmental and labor activists.
The memo was leaked to the nonprofit labor group Warehouse Worker Resource Center and posted on-line this week. The Associated Press independently verified its authenticity.
When reached for remark, Amazon didn’t dispute the authenticity of the doc. But it mentioned in a ready assertion it was pleased with its philanthropic efforts.
“Partnerships with community leaders and stakeholders help guide how Amazon gives back,” mentioned Amazon spokesperson Jennifer Flagg. “Through employee volunteerism or our charitable donations, it is always Amazon’s intention to help support the communities where we work in a way that is most responsive to the needs of that community.”
In the memo, Amazon says its prime public-policy precedence in Southern California is addressing “labor agitation that uses false narratives and incorrect information to affect public opinion and impact public policy.”
Earlier this 12 months, the Teamsters unionized an Amazon contracted supply agency within the metropolis of Palmdale and subsequently supported protests round firm warehouses after Amazon refused to return to the bargaining desk. Last 12 months, dozens of Amazon employees at an organization air hub in San Bernardino, a metropolis about 60 miles east of Los Angeles, walked off the job to demand security enhancements and better pay.
Those similar points have been raised by employees at an organization warehouse in New York City the place workers voted to unionize with the Amazon Labor Union in 2022. The e-commerce big has been difficult the union’s win for greater than a 12 months in a case that’s nonetheless being adjudicated by the National Labor Relations Board.
The Amazon memo additionally says the Seattle-based firm faces “significant reputational challenges” in Southern California, the place it’s “perceived to build facilities in predominantly communities of color and poverty, negatively impacting their health.”
The Inland Empire, a area in Southern California that Amazon discusses within the doc, has seen a growth in warehouse improvement over the previous few many years. But there’s additionally been a groundswell of native opposition to new warehouses, with a number of municipalities enacting moratoriums on developments.
In January, dozens of environmental and neighborhood teams despatched a letter to California Gov. Gavin Newsom urging him to declare a one-to-two-year moratorium on new warehouses within the space, arguing a short lived pause was mandatory to handle the “gaps in current legislation” that enables for air pollution and congestion.
In the memo outlining Amazon’s objectives for subsequent 12 months, the corporate says it plans to “earn the trust” of neighborhood teams and nonprofits, such because the San Bernardino Valley College Foundation, Children’s Fund, and Feeding America, to push again towards state payments “that will continue to threaten the region’s economy, and Amazon’s interests.” The two payments cited embody a state laws that, if handed, would prohibit firms from constructing massive warehouses inside 1,000 ft (300 meters) of personal houses, flats, faculties, daycares and different amenities.
The memo additionally says the corporate plans to “positively affect” legislative makes an attempt to ban single use plastic by “showcasing Amazon as a leader in sustainability and counter the voices of environmental activists against Amazon.”
It additionally particulars native politicians Amazon is participating and says the corporate has “cultivated” Michael Vargas, the mayor of the city of Perris, by means of pandemic-related “donations to support the region, touring him and his team, and ongoing engagement.” Vargas didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
Media protection is a prime concern of Amazon’s. The doc previews the corporate’s objectives to generate constructive information tales for itself by means of charitable campaigns, together with by means of a meals drive hosted by the Los Angeles Food Bank the place workers would drop off donations “in big media moments that are broadcasted/posted.” The memo instructed curating comparable moments throughout a back-to-school donation occasion and a vacation toy drive, the place drop offs happen and Amazon executives, in addition to teams who obtain grants from the corporate, “speak about Amazon’s impact” to the media.
The firm moreover says it gained’t proceed to assist organizations that “did not result in measurable positive impact” to its model and repute and can cease funding teams which might be antagonistic in the direction of its curiosity. It famous it’ll cease donating to The Cheech, an artwork museum in Riverside, citing an incident this 12 months the place the middle exhibited a neighborhood artist who depicted an Amazon facility on fireplace and gave an interview “expressing hostility” in the direction of the corporate, the memo mentioned.
In a piece of the doc titled “Dogs Not Barking,” the memo lists the three issues Amazon will watch intently within the area subsequent 12 months: warehouse moratoriums, labor organizing amongst contracted supply drivers, and neighborhood teams that aren’t accepting charitable donations. It says some elected leaders have been hesitant to just accept political contributions from the corporate.
Sheheryar Kaoosji, the manager director of Warehouse Worker Resource Center, mentioned in an announcement that the group works straight with Amazon warehouse employees within the area who persistently discuss low pay, excessive damage charges and different considerations.
“These are critical issues that impact the entire Inland Empire, but specifically the 45,000 people who work for Amazon here,” Kaoosji mentioned. But, she mentioned, the memo particulars Amazon’s technique “to paper over these valid concerns with donations, media clippings and support for policy changes that either benefit Amazon or hurt their competitors.”
