A guide to how Maren Costa and her colleagues organised for climate action at Amazon

Climate change is the challenge of our time. While individual lifestyle changes like reducing car use are important, they fall short of addressing the systemic problems that are at the root of  the climate crisis. Corporations, as some of the largest contributors to global emissions and influencers of government policy, hold immense potential for change—but their inertia can often feel insurmountable. This is where employees come in. Workers, especially in influential industries, hold unique power to challenge corporate norms and push for bold climate action. 

This guide explores how employees can lead the charge, drawing on tactics and lessons from Maren Costa’s experience leading the Amazon Employees for Climate Justice (AECJ). AECJ is perhaps the most impactful employee organisation advocating for climate justice from within the company: it is widely credited with unprecedented wins, such as bringing about Amazon’s long overdue Climate Pledge, Amazon’s pledge to buy 100,000 electric vans, and Jeff Bezos’s 10-billion-dollar Earth Fund. They were able to hold Amazon accountable and move them to change in ways that sanctioned internal sustainability groups, consumers, shareholders, and even politicians had not been able to. All via employee organising and strategic collective action.

The inception of AECJ

In 2018, Maren Costa had been at Amazon (the world’s largest online retailer) for over a decade. As the company’s first Principal User Experience Designer and senior leader, she had built a career she was proud of and contributed to some of Amazon’s most ambitious projects. “I practically grew up there,” she recalls, describing her admiration for the company’s culture of innovation and problem-solving. But that admiration began to erode as she grappled with Amazon’s inadequate response to climate change.

Amazon was lagging far behind its peers. Unlike other tech giants, it had no company-wide plan, no emissions reduction targets, and no meaningful climate commitments. Maren tried every internal channel she could think of. In the past, she had been able to propose ideas backed by data, present the customer benefits, and watch “mountains move.” This time was different. When it came to climate, every conversation hit a wall.

The breaking point came during a happy hour with friends. One friend hammered her relentlessly about Amazon’s climate failures, pushing her to take a stand. “I got to the point of tears, because of course I knew they were right” Maren admits. That night, she resolved to act, even if it put her career at risk.

Maren reached out to colleagues who shared her concerns, and in late 2018, they co-founded Amazon Employees for Climate Justice (AECJ). They understood that transformative change required more than polite conversations with leadership. It demanded bold, collective action that would challenge the company publicly and force it to respond.

 Organising tip #1: Build trust and relationships

Building trust and relationships is the foundation of any organising effort. Without trust, people are unlikely to take the risks necessary for meaningful change. Maren describes the importance of deep listening and understanding colleagues' motivations:

• Start with one-on-ones: Build a core group of 4-6 trusted colleagues to start. Then meet individually with colleagues, particularly informal leaders. Ask questions, listen to their concerns, and identify shared values.
• Create a shared vision: Focus on what unites you as a group. Highlight the potential for collective action to make an impact, and connect this to company values or employee concerns.
• Plan for risk levels: Identify which employees might be able to take higher risks (e.g., those planning to leave the company) and those who require lower-risk roles (e.g., individuals on visas or with dependents). Ensure that you create roles, both visible and behind-the-scenes, for everyone’s level of risk.
• Be transparent: Be honest about the risks and challenges of organising and collective action, but also make clear how unity and strength in numbers creates safety and power. And without it we are vulnerable.
• Stand together: “I knew my colleagues had my back,” Maren recalls. “There’s strength—and safety—in numbers. Eventually, each of us will have our own ‘no-turning-back’ moment.”

 Making moves, publicly 

AECJ’s first major action was filing a shareholder resolution. This strategic decision leveraged the fact that many Amazon employees were compensated in stock, making them both workers AND shareholders. The resolution laid out specific demands outlining a company-wide climate plan and set the stage for what would become a high-profile campaign.

But the group didn’t stop there. In February 2019, they published an open letter to Jeff Bezos and the board of directors on Medium. The letter laid out the shareholder resolution’s demands, calling for Amazon to lead on climate. To encourage participation, AECJ promised they wouldn’t release anyone’s name until they had 1,000 signatures, providing safety in numbers. Within 24 hours, they hit their target, and within weeks, over 8,700 employees had signed on.

 Organising tip #2: Create strategic pressure points

Creating strategic pressure points forces leadership to make choices where inaction is costlier than responding to demands. AECJ excelled at this:

• Go for visibility: Their open letter was made public, ensuring media attention.
• Build momentum with milestones: By setting achievable milestones—such as reaching 1,000 signatures—they created tangible progress and increased participation. They kept colleagues safe by not publishing any names until enough had been gathered to provide safety in numbers.
• Exploit leverage points: AECJ capitalised on their dual role as employees and shareholders, ensuring their demands resonated across multiple stakeholder groups.
• Make the choice easy: in the case where 8700 Amazon employees signed the letter, it would look worse for Amazon to do nothing than it would for them to show some kind of a response to the demands. 
• Have an underground strategy: As well as a visible, public strategy that calls out greenwashing and acts like a watch dog, create an underground secret strategy that remains internal. Organising and planning for a strike is an example of an underground strategy. 

 The first win

Out of this historic strategic, disruptive collective action among corporate tech workers, Amazon reacted by announcing Shipment Zero, which Maren described as a misnomer. “Shipment Zero committed to get 50% of all Amazon shipments to net zero carbon by 2030”, she shared. “Given Amazon’s rate of growth, reaching 50% net-zero shipments by 2030 could still be an increase in emissions compared to today.” 

The bar was still too low, but it marked a step forward and a sign that AECJ’s pressure was working.

 Scaling up: creating pressure points

To take their efforts further, AECJ escalated their campaign at Amazon’s annual shareholder meeting. A large group of employees attended, wearing white T-shirts with their Amazon badges prominently displayed to symbolise unity. Outside, others held banners and spoke to the press.

Inside, AECJ members presented their resolution directly to Jeff Bezos, calling for bold leadership on climate. “Without bold, rapid action, we will lose our only chance to avoid catastrophic warming,” they told him. “There’s no issue more important to our customers or our world than the climate crisis, and we are falling far short. We have the scale, speed, and resources. Jeff, all we need is your leadership.”

While Bezos didn’t respond, the event garnered widespread media coverage, providing a counter point to Amazon’s greenwashing, and further increasing pressure on Amazon.

 Organising tip #3: Go public and be strategic 

AECJ became a counterpoint to Amazon’s greenwashing, using media coverage to highlight the company’s shortcomings while offering solutions. To maximise visibility:

• Work with the press: Ensure your story is compelling and framed in a way that resonates with audiences beyond your organisation.
• Use public events: Shareholder meetings, strikes, or conferences can serve as platforms to amplify your message.
• Use strategic communications: Be prepared to counter corporate spin with data, personal stories, and alternative solutions. 
• Consider media training for your group: Establish key talking points and return to them in every interview, regardless of the question you are asked.
• Beware of the bosses’ playbook: Maren warns that leadership often uses tactics to stall or deflate organising efforts, such as token listening sessions, offering recognition without action, giving incremental concessions (i.e. mostly meaningless new policies/procedures that sound good but don't actually have impact), or suggesting advocacy groups become sanctioned “employee resource groups.” “Don’t fall for these tricks,” she says. “They’re designed to silence and control you.” 

Leveraging the Climate Strike

AECJ’s next major action was organising Amazon employees to join the 2019 Global Climate Strike. The strike, inspired by youth activist Greta Thunberg, was a worldwide call for climate action. Weeks ahead of the strike, AECJ publicly pledged to bring 1,500 Amazon employees to the walkout; with the result being that just one day before the strike, Amazon announced its Climate Pledge (a commitment to net-zero carbon emissions by 2040) and ordered 100,000 electric delivery vans.

Although the pledge didn’t address all their demands, it was a major victory and a testament to the power of collective action. On the day of the strike, over 3,000 Amazon employees still joined walkouts across the globe, celebrating their progress while continuing to push for more.

 Organising tip #4: Define clear, shared goals

Clear goals are essential for maintaining alignment and momentum. AECJ’s demand for a net zero commitment was ambitious but achievable, giving employees a tangible objective to rally behind.

• Frame your ask strategically: Focus on demands that resonate broadly and feel achievable.
• Context matters: Assess the social, political, and economic environment to determine the best timing and framing for your demands.
• Celebrate wins while continuing to push: Acknowledge progress to keep morale high but maintain focus on the broader mission.

Maren explains, “Choosing strategically which action to take next is critical. It’s about what’s winnable and what makes the biggest impact in the current context.”

 Retaliation and resilience

AECJ’s growing visibility made it a target for retaliation. As two of the most public faces of the movement, Maren Costa and Emily Cunningham bore the brunt of Amazon’s response. A couple weeks after the Global Climate Strike, Amazon’s HR department issued formal warnings to both, claiming they were in violation of the company’s external communications policy for speaking to the press about Amazon’s climate inaction. These warnings were clear attempts to silence them and discourage further organising.

But AECJ had anticipated this move. Knowing retaliation, including termination, was likely, the group developed a plan to counter it. The plan involved 400 of their colleagues intentionally breaking the same external communications policy by publishing a Medium post with hundreds of quotes from employees voicing their shared concerns about Amazon’s climate policies. This collective action created a strategic dilemma for Amazon: fire Maren, Emily, and 400 employees for speaking out or fire no one. The company chose the latter, highlighting the power of safety in numbers. 

“We knew Amazon wouldn’t risk firing hundreds of employees at once—it would be a PR disaster,” Maren explained. This calculated move not only protected individual organisers but also strengthened solidarity across the movement.

 Organising tip #5: Anticipate the next move and plan for it

• Predict retaliation: Consider how leadership might respond to organising efforts and prepare a collective counter-strategy.
• Build safety in numbers: Actions involving large groups make it harder for leadership to single out individuals for punishment.
• Get off internal channels: Move conversations off internal systems (e.g., Slack or email) to secure platforms like Signal. “Get people’s personal emails and phone numbers as soon as possible,” Maren advises.
• Reject secrecy clauses: If leadership asks you to keep disciplinary actions or meetings confidential, remember you are not legally required to comply. Publicising these tactics can neutralise their power.
• Stay the course: Even in the face of setbacks, maintain focus on long-term goals. Persistence is key to systemic change!

 A new precedent for employee activism

The conflict escalated when Maren and Emily were fired in April 2020 after AECJ organised a virtual town hall. The event aimed to connect corporate employees with warehouse workers, giving a platform to those on the front lines of Amazon’s COVID-19 response. At the time, warehouse employees were raising concerns about inadequate safety measures, including insufficient PPE, lack of social distancing, and punitive leave policies, but Amazon’s corporate spin claimed that everything was perfect

Just 2 hours after AECJ sent out the invitation to the town hall, 1500 Amazon employees had already accepted, but then Amazon deleted the invitation from everyone’s inbox and calendar to prevent the meeting from happening, and Maren and Emily were both fired, in an attempt to intimidate and silence everyone. Amazon’s leadership claimed that the pair’s organising activities violated company policies. The timing of the firings—immediately after the invitation was sent—sent a chilling message. But it also laid bare how afraid Amazon was to have corporate and warehouse workers talk to each other. Instead of weakening the movement, Amazon’s actions galvanised it.

In response, AECJ organised a “sick out,” a form of protest adapted as a remote work “strike” during the pandemic, since all of the corporate workers had been told to work from home indefinitely after just one case of covid was reported on campus. Hundreds of employees refused to work all day, demonstrating solidarity with Maren, Emily, and the warehouse workers. The event featured powerful speeches from climate scientists, labour leaders, politicians, activists, and warehouse employees, amplifying public attention on Amazon’s treatment of its workers.

The firings also captured the attention of federal lawmakers. Nine U.S. senators, including then-Senator Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, and Cory Booker, wrote an open letter to Jeff Bezos, condemning the firings and urging Amazon to reinstate Maren and Emily. 

Ultimately, AECJ’s persistence paid off. The National Labor Relations Board filed suit against Amazon and ruled that Amazon had fired Maren and Emily illegally, a landmark decision that validated their organising efforts and set a precedent for employee activism. Amazon was required to post internally to all employees, regardless of corporate or warehouse, that they had acted illegally and that employees should understand their protected rights. Maren and Emily also won back-pay/lost wages.

 Organising tip #6: Transform conflict into opportunity

Conflict and retaliation can, ironically, be powerful moments for organising efforts. Rather than seeing them as setbacks, treat these challenges as opportunities to escalate your cause, rally broader support, and draw attention to systemic issues.

• Reframe retaliation as proof of impact: Retaliation often signals that your organising is working—otherwise, leadership wouldn’t feel compelled to react. Use this as a rallying point to mobilise additional supporters.
• Seek external allies: Moments of conflict can open the door to new alliances, such as engaging lawmakers, media, or influential advocates who can amplify your message and add pressure on leadership.
• Anchor actions in shared values: Show how the conflict aligns with shared employee and societal values, reinforcing the legitimacy of your organising efforts and inspiring solidarity.
• Seek advisors and learn from traditional labour organisers. Seek guidance from experienced labour organisers to strengthen your strategy. Their expertise in power dynamics, retaliation, and collective action can be invaluable. AECJ had mentorship from some of the best labour organisers, and also had access to their legal advice and help with the court case.

Maren’s reflection underscores this principle: “When retaliation comes, it’s not the end of the fight—it’s a chance to show everyone why the fight matters.”

 Beyond Amazon: a ripple effect across the tech industry

AECJ’s success wasn’t just transformative for Amazon; it inspired a larger movement across the tech industry. Workers at Google, Microsoft, and other companies began organising for climate justice, showing that collective action is contagious. The organising principles used by AECJ can be adapted to any workplace, making their story a valuable resource for employee climate leaders in every industry. 

These movements highlight the unique position employees hold in pushing for change. Unlike external activists, employees have direct access to decision-makers and a deep understanding of company operations, giving them a powerful platform to influence corporate behaviour. And more importantly, employees have the power to withhold their work/labor which is the leverage needed to make a company do something they are otherwise unwilling to do.

 The takeaway? Start from where you are

Maren Costa’s story shows that the systems driving the climate crisis can be challenged—and changed. Her advice? “The climate crisis requires us to be our bravest selves in ways we may never have done before. But the good news? It only takes 3.5% of the population to be actively engaged to achieve systemic change.”

Every employee, regardless of their role, has the potential to spark change. Whether it’s joining an existing movement or starting a new one, it begins with small, courageous steps. Build trust, educate yourself, and take strategic risks.

The lesson is clear: the path to systemic change begins with you. As Maren reminds us, “Eventually, each of us will have our own no-turning-back moment. The question is: What are you willing to risk?”

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