Security officers who protect the downtown Seattle headquarters of Amazon.com attended the company's annual shareholder meeting to call on Amazon to hold its security contractor accountable to basic standards of conduct it has adopted for its suppliers.

Amazon's security officers are organizing with SEIU Local 6 but facing intimidation and retaliation from the company's current security contractor, Security Industry Specialists (SIS).

As NPR reported, the officers and community supporters protested outside the meeting and also raised pointed questions inside it, drawing support from shareholders.

"The work environment is a culture of fear and intimidation," said Lawrence Clark. "I panic when I see supervisors, because I know they could fire me for just about anything. I have already been written up and reprimanded for minor mistakes I made while still learning the job.

"This is why it is so important for us to organize," said Clark, who is seeking to become a member of SEIU Local 6.

The unstable work environment applies to how SIS enforces sick leave rules, too. "I was fired in December after my daughter was sick," said former SIS officer Richell Banks. "I was late trying to find her a babysitter, but I still made it into work that day. It didn't matter; they fired me a week later.

"It's not fair. SIS doesn't provide its officers with adequate sick leave or healthcare, and then fired me when my family was at a low point. I'm a mom, and I was a good worker, and I was unemployed for five months."

The officers were joined by supporters, including Working Washington, SEIU Local 6, Stand for Security, and Teamsters Local 117, who all shared updates and photos throughout the day. The Martin Luther King County Labor Council, WashingtonCAN!, OneAmerica, Musicians Local 76-943, SEIU 775 and SEIU 925 all stood with SIS officers, as well.

GeekWire's Tricia Duryee, included the security officers' concerns in her list of questions for Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, asking "Can Bezos make amends?" And the Seattle Times noted that the Amazon CEO was curt in answering the individuals who questioned Amazon's policies.

One of those questions was from SIS security officer Daivon Young. After he described the issues officers are facing and stressed how important it is for them to organize their union, Young boldly called on Bezos to uphold the promises Amazon makes to workers in its code of conduct.

Amazon's Supplier Code of Standards and Responsibilities requires suppliers to respect the rights of employees to establish and join a union, and specifies that "workers may not be penalized or subjected to harassment or intimidation for the non-violent exercise of their right to join or refrain from joining such legal organizations."