The fight to unionize Amazon
There’s going to be a union election among employees at a New York Amazon facility this month. The warehouse, which is in Staten Island, could become the first unionized element of the corporate behemoth that is Amazon, which prides itself on providing the cheapest items, as quickly as possible — at the expense of its workers’ health and safety. As workers died on the job, were told to keep working through a dangerous storm, and went without PPE during the pandemic, Amazon continued to expand its profits more than ever before. And one of the key voices bringing attention to the worker exploitation that brings Amazon its profits is Chris Smalls, this week’s guest on KK&F.
In Staten Island, workers are rallying, having conversations, and building solidarity in advance of the union vote later this month. Workers at the Bessemer, Alabama warehouse that attempted to vote for a union last year will have the opportunity for a second vote, as Amazon’s flagrant union-busting tactics to prevent and influence the vote caused it to be overturned by the NLRB. The workers in Staten Island are up against a ruthless, craven corporation in their struggle to unionize, but, as Chris can tell us, they’re definitely up to this fight.
In this week’s episode, we’ll be talking to Chris about his tireless organizing for a Amazon union, from the earliest days of the pandemic until now. He can give insight into what a union would mean for Amazon workers (and for American workers in general), how he and other organizers are taking on this massive task, and what’s ahead for them. We hope you’ll join us for this conversation.
Paid subscribers can watch this conversation when it drops on Friday evening. Everyone else can listen to it as a podcast on Saturday through Spotify, Pandora, Apple Podcasts, and more.