Documents Say Amazon Used Atlas to Assess Warehouse Union Risk

Documents disclosed in a unionization dispute at an Amazon warehouse near Vancouver describe an AI-powered system, called Atlas, that assessed the risk of union activity at warehouses around the world. The documents were provided to the British Columbia Labour Board and Unifor.

According to the documents, Atlas used hundreds of data points, including worker communication channels, health and safety incidents, minimum wage rates and the proximity of warehouses to sites with union activity. It also monitored Amazon’s internal Voice of the Associate board and external forums such as Reddit, tracking keywords, phrases, upvotes and worker responses.

The system assigned warehouse risk scores from Tier 5, described as little to no risk, to Tier 1, described as imminent risk. The documents also classified actions such as signing union cards, approaching management with demands, protests, sickouts and work stoppages as signs of increased risk. They included a management training guide of more than 100 pages on union activity and how managers should engage with employees discussing it.

Two UK warehouses, in Coventry and Minworth, were designated Tier 1. Their employees have been working with GMB Union. GMB organiser Rachel Fagan called the disclosure “a shocking revelation” and said the union had written to the Government seeking answers.

TechRadar Pro said it contacted Amazon for comment but had not immediately received a response. The documents raise questions about how worker data was processed; the article reported no finding that regulations had been violated.