(Reuters) - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont called on President Joe Biden to issue an executive order barring Amazon.com Inc from receiving federal contracts until it ceases engaging in "illegal anti-union conduct."
"As you may know, Amazon, one of America's largest and most wealthy firms, is the poster child for why this anti-union busting Executive Order is required now more than ever," Sanders wrote to Biden, as Politico previously reported.
Amazon warehouse workers in New York City recently decided to form the country's second-largest private employer's first union. Amazon objected, accusing the labor group of intimidating workers until they voted to organize, which the labor group rejected.
More than 100 other Amazon work sites in the United States have expressed interest in unionizing.
Sanders also expressed worry in his letter over Amazon's designation of its delivery drivers as independent contractors rather than employees, which gives them fewer benefits and prevents them from establishing a union.
Late Tuesday, Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
"Taxpayer monies should not go to firms like Amazon and multibillionaires like Jeff Bezos who flout the law on a regular basis," Sanders said in a speech on the Senate floor on Tuesday evening https://bit.ly/3Ln2xjp.
Biden has replaced government officials deemed hostile to labor by unions, as well as reversing rules enacted by former President Donald Trump that critics claimed weakened worker protections.
Sanders pushed Biden to go even further and slash federal contracts for companies that are considered "union busters."
"Today, I address President Biden, saying, "You vowed to prevent union busters like Amazon from gaining lucrative federal contracts." Please keep your word "On the Senate floor, Sanders remarked.
