There is power in a union

Sneak Peak: Episode 14 with Shoe0nHead

Yesterday, the last ballots were cast to decide the matter of whether Amazon workers in Bessemer, AL, will unionize. Now the vote count starts, and the world is watching. Through it all, Amazon execs have rallied to shut down the union, relying on classic union-busting tactics and outright denying the workplace abuses that a union would empower workers to fight back against.

Amazon News @amazonnews

@repmarkpocan 1/2 You don’t really believe the peeing in bottles thing, do you? If that were true, nobody would work for us. The truth is that we have over a million incredible employees around the world who are proud of what they do, and have great wages and health care from day one.

(Yes, Amazon, we all believe the peeing in bottles thing.)

The potential of an Amazon workers’ union is so vast because of the immense power that Amazon holds to exploit its workers and funnel immense wealth away from the people who create the company’s value. It’s also vast because, as Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA-CWA) pointed out in a recent Twitter exchange with Bernie Sanders, an Amazon workers’ union helps to open the doors to a massive reckoning between workers and capitalists.

Sara Nelson @FlyingWithSara

Yes. This is happening. Not if... when. https://t.co/vX4pCxNH8o

Bernie Sanders @BernieSanders

If Amazon workers prevail in forming a union in Alabama, they'll do it in Mississippi. They’ll do it in Tennessee. They’ll do it in Georgia. They’ll do it all over America. And instead of a race to the bottom, we will see rising living standards throughout the country.

Meanwhile, in an article for Jacobin, Brandon Magner points out the ways that legislation like the PRO Act will transform the landscape of labor organizing, specifically identifying how the Amazon union drive in Bessemer would have faced fewer challenges under the PRO Act. If Amazon had been excluded from participation in representation proceedings, if it had been held to account for its election interference and with greater consequences, and if it had been blocked from holding captive audience meetings — among other things — the path to an Amazon union would have been quicker and easier. As it stands, the accomplishments of the union organizers in Bessemer are truly incredible, and they stand to secure essential, material protections for thousands of people.

This week, we’ll be joined by June Lapine, AKA Shoe0nHead, for a chat about the issues at the front of our minds, and we hope you’ll join us. Subscribe here for access to the Friday video content, or join us on Saturday for audio across Substack and the main streaming platforms (Spotify, Pandora, Apple Playlist, and more).