Newark Is No Stranger To Amazon’s ‘Illegal Monopoly,’ Group Says

NEWARK, NJ — If the feds are looking for examples of an “illegal monopoly” from Amazon, New Jersey’s largest city is a good place to start, a group of labor advocates claims.

Last week, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and attorney generals in 17 states – including New Jersey – sued Amazon.com Inc., alleging that the retail and tech giant is using “unfair strategies” to illegally maintain its monopoly power.

What are the charges? According to the FTC:

“The complaint alleges that Amazon violates the law not because it is big, but because it engages in a course of exclusionary conduct that prevents current competitors from growing and new competitors from emerging. By stifling competition on price, product selection, quality, and by preventing its current or future rivals from attracting a critical mass of shoppers and sellers, Amazon ensures that no current or future rival can threaten its dominance. Amazon’s far-reaching schemes impact hundreds of billions of dollars in retail sales every year, touch hundreds of thousands of products sold by businesses big and small and affect over a hundred million shoppers.”

The company has vowed to fight the lawsuit, claiming that its business practices have “spurred competition and innovation.”

“If the FTC gets its way, the result would be fewer products to choose from, higher prices, slower deliveries for consumers, and reduced options for small businesses—the opposite of what antitrust law is designed to do,” an Amazon spokesperson wrote.

Read the company’s full response to the suit here.

Meanwhile, the FTC’s lawsuit has seen a big thumbs-up from advocates such as Make the Road New Jersey, a pro-labor and immigration group that has been a vocal critic of Amazon’s presence in the Garden State.

Garrett O’Connor, an organizer with the group, said the suit is a “bold and necessary action” against the “stranglehold” that Amazon has on local economies.

In addition, Amazon – one of the largest employers in New Jersey – has a history of “tightening its grip over fair competition by flagrantly abusing workers' rights,” O’Connor charged.

• See Related: 3 NJ Amazon Workers Died In A Month, Prompting Investigations

Make the Road New Jersey isn’t the only advocacy group that has tried to aim a spotlight at Amazon’s safety record. In 2018, a coalition of labor activists calling themselves Warehouse Workers Stand Up released a report which alleged that many of the jobs that the company is bringing to New Jersey are “unsafe” and “grueling.”

Amazon spokespeople lambasted the report as being riddled with inaccuracies, and claimed that the safety and economic well-being of the company’s associates is its number one priority. Read More: NJ Warehouse Workers Say Amazon Jobs Are 'Unsafe, Grueling'

Amazon’s presence in the Garden State is enormous, according to Warehouse Workers Stand Up. The company operates several facilities in New Jersey totaling millions of square feet. Overall, Amazon operates more warehouse distribution centers in New Jersey than any other company, making it one of the largest employers in the state.

It’s a point that Garden State residents should keep in mind when they think of the FTC’s lawsuit, spokespeople with Make the Road New Jersey said.

“Thousands of Amazon workers have testified to the dangerous pace of work, high injury rates, and pattern of retaliation against workers who assert their legal right to organize,” the group claimed in a statement, which echoed previous reports it has released over the past decade.

• See Related: 'Unfair And Humiliating': NJ Temp Workers Deserve More, Advocates Say

AMAZON IN NEWARK

Newark, the most populated city in New Jersey, has had a love-hate relationship with Amazon over the past decade.

The city was one of the finalists in the frenzied attempt to land Amazon's new headquarters in 2018. In an attempt to land the coveted headquarters – and the jobs that it would bring – New Jersey and Newark officials offered Amazon a staggering $7 billion in combined state and city tax breaks, drawing both support and criticism along the way.

The Brick City ultimately lost out to the New York City neighborhood of Long Island City and Arlington, Virginia.

• See related article: Amazon Officially Passes Up Newark For New Headquarters
• See related article: Amazon Nixes NYC Headquarters, But What About Newark?
• See related article: Race To The Bottom: NJ's Quest For Amazon HQ Is 'Insane,' Critics Say

However, the retail giant continues to build its footprint in Newark.

In 2020, Amazon opened a new delivery station at 429 Delancy Street. The new facility was expected to create more than 100 full and part-time associate jobs, in addition to "hundreds" of driver opportunities for Amazon's Delivery Service Partners and Amazon Flex drivers, the company said. See Related: Amazon Facility Will Deliver 100 Jobs To Newark, Company Says

In 2022, a proposed deal that would have brought an Amazon cargo hub to Newark Liberty International Airport fell apart after ardent opposition from local residents and community activists, who complained about a lack of transparency and potential impacts to traffic and the environment. Critics also questioned the types of jobs the deal would have brought to the region, including their pay and safety.

An Amazon spokesperson called the decision “disappointing.”

“Despite this outcome, we value our relationship with the Port Authority, and we’re proud of our robust presence in New Jersey and look forward to continued investments in the state,” they said.

• See Related: Deal To Bring Amazon Cargo Hub To Newark Airport Falls Apart
• See Related: Protect Your Workers, NJ Senator Tells Amazon As Black Friday Nears

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