‘Win for Workers Across America’: Amazon Union Victory Inspires Progressives
Common Dreams – By Brett Wilkins – April 02, 2022
Progressives hailed Friday’s unionization vote by employees at an Amazon warehouse in New York City as a historic victory for workers across the United States and an inspiring call to action for others seeking to organize.
In what’s being described as a “tremendous upset” of “David versus Goliath” proportions, employees at Amazon’s JFK8 warehouse in Staten Island—led by fired worker Chris Smalls—defeated a multimillion-dollar union-busting effort by one of the world’s largest and most powerful corporations and voted to form the Amazon Labor Union (ALU).
“It’s official,” ALU tweeted after the vote. “Amazon Labor Union is the first Amazon union in U.S. history. Power to the people!”
“This is the catalyst for the revolution,” Smalls, the ALU organizer and president, said while celebrating the vote.
Erica Smiley, executive director of the labor advocacy group Jobs With Justice, said in a statement that “this triumphant union victory over Amazon represents a watershed moment in the labor movement.”
“Amazon finally got what it deserved today after the trillion-dollar company ignored the demands for safer working conditions in 2020 from its workers exposed to Covid and retaliated against Christian Smalls and others who led a walkout,” she said.
Posted by Teri Perticone
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