Amazon is taking a page out of Trump's public-relations playbook.- The company on Friday accused a
union leader of taking "alternative facts to a whole new level." - Amazon has slammed multiple progressive politicians on Twitter this week.
Amazon is taking a page out of President Donald Trump's playbook with its recent public-relations strategy as the company attempts to stomp out an attempt by its workers to unionize.
"Stuart Appelbaum, Chief Disinformation Officer of RWDSU, in an attempt to save his long declining union, is taking alternative facts to a whole new level," an Amazon representative said on Friday in a statement to CNN's Sara Ashley O'Brien. The statement O'Brien posted on
-sara ashley o'brien (@saraashleyo) March 26, 2021
Amazon confirmed the veracity of the statement to Insider but said it "should have been attributed to Drew Herdener, Amazon's Vice President for Worldwide Communications. Please feel free to use his statement in your article attributed to him."
Its workers in Bessemer, Alabama, are in the process of voting to join the
"Alternative facts" is a phrase made famous by the Trump advisor Kellyanne Conway in 2017, when she told "Meet the Press" that "Sean Spicer, our press secretary, gave alternative facts." Trump, meanwhile, is known for accusing critics of spreading "fake news."
Amazon has been mirroring Trump's press strategy in other ways, such as by criticizing a number of progressive politicians on Twitter.
The company has been sparring with Sen. Elizabeth Warren for multiple days.
"One of the most powerful politicians in the United States just said she's going to break up an American company so that they can't criticize her anymore," Amazon tweeted on Friday.
-Amazon News (@amazonnews) March 26, 2021
Warren previously hit back at Amazon after it said she made tax policies it followed, tweeting in part that she would fight "to break up Big Tech so you're not powerful enough to heckle senators with snotty tweets."
-Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) March 26, 2021
-Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) March 25, 2021
Amazon also picked a fight with Sen. Bernie Sanders, which culminated with Dave Clark, who serves as CEO of worldwide consumer at Amazon, tweeting that Sanders should "save his finger wagging lecture until after he actually delivers in his own backyard."
-Dave Clark (@davehclark) March 25, 2021
Earlier in the week, Clark said in a statement to Insider: "I often say we are the
-Amazon News (@amazonnews) March 26, 2021
In a third Twitter spat, Amazon faced off against Democratic Rep. Mark Pocan. Pocan had tweeted: "Paying workers $15/hr doesn't make you a 'progressive workplace' when you union-bust & make workers urinate in water bottles."
"You don't really believe the peeing in bottles thing, do you? If that were true, nobody would work for us," Amazon replied.
-Amazon News (@amazonnews) March 25, 2021
Eight Amazon drivers told Insider this week that they had peed in bottles while delivering packages because of the company's strict time limits. Some drivers said they had also pooped in bags, while one said she struggled to find time or space to change her menstrual pads while working.
Amazon did not respond to multiple request for comment on workers urinating in bottles, which drivers described as a common practice. The company declined to comment on its criticism of politicians on Twitter or its use of the phrase "alternative facts" in a statement beyond correcting the representative's name.
Celine McNicholas, the director of government affairs at the Economic Policy Institute, told Insider Amazon likely denied the "pee bottle thing" in an effort to be seen as a progressive employer amid the Alabama union drive.
"I think it is probably the only play that they have - to say this is not the reality," McNicholas said. "Because the reality is shameful and disgusting."