SURVEILLANCE STATE

Amazon Hired Pinkerton Operatives to Spy on Warehouse Workers: Vice

The company also monitored Yellow Jackets protests in France and Greta Thunberg’s Fridays For Future climate strikes, according to documents leaked to Vice.

Amazon has secretly been tracking labor and social movements worldwide, enlisting the help of union-busting Pinkerton operatives, according to documents leaked to Vice News. The surveillance took place primarily in Europe, according to Vice, with Greta Thunberg’s Fridays For Future climate strikes and the Yellow Vest protests in France being two of the multinational corporation’s top targets. In one November 2019 case, Amazon-backed Pinkertons were “inserted” into a Polish warehouse to investigate management, according to Vice. Earlier this year, Recode reported that Amazon was using surveillance software to determine which Whole Foods employees were likely to unionize.