Amazon Labor Union
Amazon Labor UnionThere’s a union wave at the ground level of corporate America and, by many metrics, Amazon is the big fish being watched by stakeholders on both sides of the fight for labor rights. That’s because, like a Walmart, the sheer size of Amazon (which accounted for a whopping 25% of all US e-commerce in 2021) will set important precedents for the rest of corporate America. If unions can find a foothold at Amazon, similar trends will unfold in a host of ancillary industries and smaller fish in the same corporate pond.
Indeed, we’re seeing similar movements in the workforce at other corporate powerhouses: Starbucks, REI, Apple, Trader Joe’s and more. And workers at smaller outfits like City Feed, Pavement Coffee, and more are getting in on the act too, realizing what a friend they have in the National Labor Relations Act and the NLRB.
Because the stakes are so high at Amazon, we can expect strong pushback at the corporate level.
The most high-profile success story at the moment is the Amazon Labor Union drive at a warehouse in Staten Island, JFK8, led by labor rights leader and former Amazon worker (and all-around folk hero) Christian Smalls. Amazon pushed back by both firing the leadership of the union drive and intimidating the warehouse workers that remained.
Christian Smalls was fired in March.
Via Bloomberg:
Smalls had driven into the parking lot to deliver food and union literature for employees to share with co-workers, according to Connor Spence, a union vice president who said he witnessed the incident.
“I think it started off as a scare tactic that completely went off the rails,” said Spence, who accused the company of calling the police in an effort to intimidate employees in the lead-up to the election.”
And via Vox:
“Amazon said it fired Smalls for showing up to work after being in contact with a colleague who was diagnosed with Covid-19 and being asked to stay at home. But Smalls alleged to Recode that Amazon fired him because of his activism.
“The allegation is, because he spoke up for the safety of his fellow workers, he was fired. I have ordered the city’s Commission on Human Rights to investigate Amazon immediately to determine if that’s true,” said de Blasio at a press conference on Tuesday. “If so, that would be a violation of our city human rights law. We would act on it immediately.”
“Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment…”
“…Amazon told ABC News that it terminated Smalls after he ignored multiple warnings to stay at home under quarantine after being in contact with a colleague who had tested positive for Covid-19.
“Smalls denied this, telling Recode that his manager told him to self-quarantine on Saturday and that he hasn’t been inside the Staten Island facility since — only outside the building in the parking lot to protest on Monday, where he says he tried to stay 6 feet away from other people.
“I didn’t violate any safety protocols, and I have nothing to hide,” Smalls told Recode. “If I should be quarantined, the whole entire department of at least 400 people should be quarantined. This was a direct target to silence me.”
Along with the Smalls firing, Amazon pursued a strategy of harassment, intimidation, and pressure tactics with its remaining warehouse workers. Workers were mandated to attend so-called “captive audience” meetings in which bosses, either in person or via video, extol the virtues of the company and speculate about the dangers of unionization. More than 20 “captive audience” meetings were held each day at the Staten Island warehouses in the leadup to the union vote. Union-busting training videos for Amazon management have leaked in recent years, giving a sense of the rhetoric involved (see short and long version).
Despite the pushback, the Amazon Labor Union has made great strides.
The Amazon Labor Union won a union victory in the vote at Small’s former warehouse, JFK8, by a vote of 2,654 in favor of joining the union and 2,131 opposed (with 67 ballots being challenged).
The win at JFK8, however, comes alongside a loss at a second warehouse in Staten Island and another warehouse in Alabama, amid reports that Amazon was firing senior management that had been connected to union activity. Pressure tactics and retaliation work when the right to organize and collectively bargain your labor rights is not sufficiently safeguarded.
Yet, the initial win at the first Staten Island remains a major milestone. Lawmakers sympathetic to labor have called upon Amazon to recognize the union, instead of seeking to overturn the results, and negotiate in good faith. And the win has spurred action at other Amazon warehouses, including a union drive in Phoenix, Arizona.
Where this all goes, nobody knows.
The consequences will be of great import both to organized labor and corporate America, however it turns out. Certain factors built into the business model of Amazon – such as high churn rate (constant influx of workers in and out make it difficult to build a movement) – work against union momentum. But a win’s a win, and until conditions improve there is no reason to predict less hunger for the benefits unionizing can offer. When we fight, we win.
Support the Amazon Labor Union.
Say hi to the Amazon Labor Union and Christian Smalls.
