What it had to solve
Persuade warehouse workers to vote against unionising, adding a streaming-video channel to an existing anti-union campaign.
The idea
Put Amazon employees on camera saying why they would vote no, and run the ads on Twitch, the streaming platform Amazon owns.
How it works
The ads showed Amazon employees explaining why they wanted to vote no and pointed viewers to Amazon's 'DoItWithoutDues' website. More Perfect Union reported them, and it was unclear whether Amazon targeted certain streams or viewers.
What it did
Twitch said the ads 'should never have been allowed to run' because they violated its political advertising policies, removed them, and said it was evaluating its review processes. RWDSU president Stuart Appelbaum denounced the ads. Amazon was not immediately available for comment.
Background
In February 2021, while workers at an Amazon warehouse outside Birmingham, Alabama voted on unionising, Amazon ran ads on Twitch featuring its employees on why they would vote no and directing viewers to its 'DoItWithoutDues' site. Twitch, the platform, is owned by Amazon.
More Perfect Union flagged the ads, and Rod Breslau first reported their removal. The Verge described them as the latest entry in a long campaign that also involved mandatory meetings, near-daily texts and anti-union posters. Twitch's spokesperson said the ads violated its political advertising policies.
Why it lands
Placing the ads on its own subsidiary made a labour-relations campaign very public.
Twitch's political-advertising policy applied to its parent like any other advertiser.
The ads arrived amid a wider campaign that reporters were already scrutinising.
What you can take
An advertiser that owns the platform still has to pass the platform's rules, and being caught bending them is a story of its own.
Since then
Twitch said it would evaluate its review processes so similar content would not run again. The vote was scheduled to conclude on March 29, and the article records no outcome for the campaign.
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