Amazon.com’s Whole Foods Market doesn’t want to be forced to let workers wear “Black Lives Matter” masks and is pointing to the recent US Supreme Court ruling permitting a business owner to refuse services to same-sex couples to get federal regulators to back off.

National Labor Relations Board prosecutors have accused the grocer of stifling worker rights by banning staff from wearing BLM masks or pins on the job. The company countered in a filing that its own rights are being violated if it’s forced to allow BLM slogans to be worn with Whole Foods uniforms.

Amazon is the most prominent company to use the high court’s June ruling that a Christian web designer was free to refuse to design sites for gay weddings, saying the case “provides a clear roadmap” to throw out the NLRB’s complaint.

The dispute is one of several in which labor board officials are considering what counts as legally-protected, work-related communication and activism on the job.

  • Blake [he/him]@feddit.uk
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    1 year ago

    So that’s a no, then - you don’t have a right for something if you have to leave the system to exercise the right. For example you wouldn’t have the right of freedom of speech if I said “yeah you can say whatever you want if you leave the country!”

    So, why do companies deserve more rights than people?

    • Saik0@lemmy.saik0.com
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      1 year ago

      So, why do companies deserve more rights than people?

      They don’t… It’s their property. Just like you would have a right to ask someone to leave your property at anytime for any reason.

      • Blake [he/him]@feddit.uk
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        1 year ago

        Okay so imagine that you’re on Elon Musk’s private jet, 36000 feet in the air, and he asks you to strip down into a thong and perform an erotic dance for him. It’s his property, he has the right to tell you what to wear. If you don’t like it, you’re free to leave; of course. Do you think that’s acceptable?

        • Saik0@lemmy.saik0.com
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          1 year ago

          Yes you would have a right to leave at any time. Failure on Elon’s part to allow you off the craft promptly and in safe manner would literally be kidnapping or unlawful detention. Which I believe would be up to 3 years of imprisonment… and generally a felony.

          Also, would probably be soliciting and probably a whole slew of other illegal actions here if that situation would occur.

          Did you think you had a gotcha there?

          • Blake [he/him]@feddit.uk
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            1 year ago

            So, if Elon puts you into a position where you have to choose between following his rules or risk to your health and safety, it’s kidnapping, unlawful detention, etc. but if Amazon puts you into a position where you have to choose between following their rules or risk your health and safety, that’s completely acceptable?

            Do you not realise that you completely walked back on your “my property, my rules” claim?

            • Saik0@lemmy.saik0.com
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              1 year ago

              but if Amazon puts you into a position where you have to choose between following their rules or risk your health and safety,

              Care to elaborate on how not wearing a pin/mask with specific decoration is risking health and safety?

              • Blake [he/him]@feddit.uk
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                1 year ago

                You got that a bit turned around, there.

                Choose between following their rules (not wearing a pin/mask) or risk your health and safety (lose your income, health insurance, ability to provide food/shelter for your family)

                • Saik0@lemmy.saik0.com
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                  1 year ago

                  Not at all… Theft is against the contract/policy of a company as well. If we catch employees stealing shit can the company not fire the employee? How about constantly taking 5 minutes extra on their smoke breaks? Following customers around unwantedly?

                  The policies/contract is written. Should we just ignore it all for everything just because the person would lose benefits/income? The company should just be forced to pay an employee indefinitely regardless of any/all rules? The worker agreed to the contract when they got hired.

                  Once again… if you don’t like the rules… you don’t have to work there.

                  not wearing a pin/mask

                  No… not wearing a pin or mask with logos… They can wear a mask… And probably are encouraged to wear a mask. Don’t go off making this a health thing for making them take off a specific mask with logos. I can promise that a manager in the situation grabbed a box of masks and offered a replacement to just move on with life.

                  Although to be fair, I don’t shop there… I have no idea what Whole Foods requirements are with masks. But I am willing to bet that they had other masks available for workers to use. As I can walk in basically any store and ask for one and be given one as a customer… let alone as a worker.

                  health insurance

                  Affordable Care Act.

                  lose your income […] ability to provide food/shelter for your family

                  If you get fired for this (as was the case in the story) you’d be eligible for a number of things like unemployment, food stamps, etc…

                  • Blake [he/him]@feddit.uk
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                    1 year ago

                    If you stole from Elon Musk’s private jet, shouldn’t he be allowed to throw you off the plane? Like it was kind of implied that you’d have to follow Elon’s rules when you got on the plane, and it was in that 10,000 page EULA you clicked “I agree” on… should Elon really be forced to carry people on his jet whom don’t follow the rules? If you don’t like them, you can get off the plane.

                    Don’t worry, if you’re falling through the sky, you’ll be eligible for a parachute, just send away form 117b and wait 6-9 months for your request to be denied, then you can hire a lawyer and file an appeal! Usually that should be sufficient to get you the parachute you need.

                    Oh, what’s that, you already hit the ground and died? Ah well, should have just danced for Elon I guess.

            • Saik0@lemmy.saik0.com
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              1 year ago

              Care to elaborate? Or are we just going to drive-by name call and add nothing to the conversation?

              I don’t think I am… That situation doesn’t even apply to this story. This would imply that workers don’t have access to the dress code prior to starting the job, which I’ve already shown isn’t the case (somewhere… might not have been in this particular thread). This stupid situation would make more sense if Elon told you that in order to fly with him you needed to dress like a stripper prior to getting on the plane… then you get on the plane and get mad when he ejects you for not being in proper uniform.

              You call it pedantic… but EVEN in this stupidly constructed case… it’s a dumb premise and it’s clear that the right persists regardless.