Emily Cunningham and Maren Costa, former employees of Amazon, stated that as part of a settlement, Amazon will need to pay them back wages and inform all of its tech and warehouse workers nationwide that they cannot be fired for organizing and exercising their rights. The pair sees this agreement as a victory for protecting workers' rights. They claim they were terminated last year for advocating for Amazon to reduce its impact on climate change and improve conditions for warehouse workers. Amazon contends that the former employees violated internal policies. Amazon spokesperson Jose Negrete announced on Wednesday that a mutual agreement has been reached to resolve the legal issues in this case. This settlement comes at a critical time for Amazon as the company aims to be a top employer and plans to hire a large number of workers in the United States. In 2018, Costa and Cunningham, who worked as designers at Amazon's Seattle headquarters, were part of a group that urged the company to address its environmental impact. They formed Amazon Employees for Climate Justice and garnered support from over 8,700 colleagues. Over time, Cunningham and Costa expanded their demonstrations. When Amazon informed them that they had breached its policy on external communications by discussing the company publicly, their group mobilized 400 employees to do the same, intentionally breaking the policy to demonstrate a point. During the early stages of the pandemic, they scheduled an internal event for warehouse workers to communicate with tech employees about their safety conditions at work. Shortly thereafter, Amazon terminated the employment of both women. Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts wrote a letter to Amazon expressing concerns about potential retaliation, and Tim Bray, an internet pioneer and former vice president at Amazon's cloud computing division, resigned in protest. This spring, attorneys from the National Labor Relations Board determined that Costa and Cunningham were terminated in retaliation for their organizing efforts. The NLRB's Seattle office then filed a case against Amazon, alleging that the company selectively enforced its policies to restrict employees from participating in protected activities. The hearing, originally set to begin on Tuesday, was postponed as the parties negotiated a settlement. This case is just one of many disputes Amazon has had with the labor board during the pandemic. In a notable instance in August, a hearing officer recommended that the NLRB invalidate a union election at an Amazon facility in Bessemer, Alabama, citing interference by the company. Amazon denies any wrongdoing and plans to appeal if the regional labor board office upholds the recommendation to overturn the election.