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In a letter to President Joe Biden, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) called on the administration to debar Amazon from further federal contracting, due to illegal anti-union activity.

During the 2020 presidential campaign, Biden promised to “institute a multi-year federal debarment for all employers who illegally oppose unions” and to “ensure federal contracts only go to employers who sign neutrality agreements committing not to run anti-union campaigns.” Sanders called on Biden to fulfill that promise, citing Amazon’s alleged anti-union actions.

“As part of their illegal anti-union activity, they forced workers to attend closed-door anti-union meetings and discriminated against pro-union workers,” Sanders wrote. “After workers in Staten Island, New York voted overwhelmingly to join the independent Amazon Labor Union, Amazon has not only refused to negotiate a first contract with them but refuses to recognize that the union exists even though the National Labor Relations Board certified their union victory.” The company has been fined more than $75 million for breaking federal discrimination and wage laws and is being sued by the NLRB to reinstate a worker who was illegally fired for organizing a union, Sanders added.

Some upcoming contracts likely to be awarded to Amazon or other Jeff Bezos-owned companies include a $10 billion NSA cloud contract and a $10 billion NASA contract to fly a spaceship to the moon.

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