Amazon Uses Arsenal of AI Weapons Against Workers | A study of a union election at an Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama, shows that the company weaponizes its algorithmic surveillance tools to prevent organizing.

From the article: A new paper on Amazon’s anti-union efforts at its Bessemer, Alabama, warehouse is the first academic study to examine the ways Amazon has leveraged algorithms to crush pro-union movements inside one of its sprawling warehouses. The study, published by researcher Teke Wiggin of Northwestern University, was compiled using dozens of worker interviews and FOIA requests to the National Labor Relations Board.

Ultimately, the 2021 union vote in Bessemer ended with workers voting against joining the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) by a count of 1,798 to 738 out of 5,867 workers eligible to vote, proving that the sprawling surveillance and discipline system is highly effective.

Since the 2021 election, Amazon has been ordered to hold two more elections at the plant. However, the company has proved exceptionally deft at thrashing worker organizing with both old-school and cutting-edge technologies. The modern tactics detailed by Wiggin include leveraging algorithmic discipline on worker devices, algorithmic slack-cutting or “electronic whipping,” in which algorithms rapidly alter quotas and rules, mobile device spamming, and social media monitoring.

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