Judy: Workers at an Amazon site
today in Staten Island, New York
appeared to reject a union by a
margin of nearly 2:1.
William brangham gets the latest
on this and larger efforts.
William: That is right, Judy.
What is known as the Amazon
labor union lost its unionizing
vote today.
That loss comes weeks after they
scored a historic win at a much
larger, neighboring Amazon
warehouse, which created the
first ever union at the massive
online company.
Amazon has battled hard with
unions, including a recent
contested fight in Alabama.
But there are new union drives
springing up at other major
major employers as well.
Including at a number of
Starbucks, apple, and rei stores
around the country.
For some perspective on this I'm
joined by maximillian Alvarez,
editor in chief at the real news
network and host of the working
people podcast.
Great to have you on the
newshour.
Help us understand what went
down today.
Several weeks ago this tiny
union wins a historic victory
against Amazon, but today loses
at a smaller facility.
How do you explain that or see
that?
Maximillian: Thank you for
having me on the show and for
taking an interest in this vital
topic.
I am glad it is getting the
attention it deserves.
It is important to remember why
it was such a historic victory
when the independent Amazon
labor union successfully voted
to unionize at the JFK a
fulfillment center on Staten
Island, and 8000 plus person
facility.
It is traditionally hard to
organize your workplace in this
country, after decades of labor
law stacked in favor of the
bosses, workers are up for an
uphill battle.
They were going up against the
second largest private employer
in the U.S., one of the most
powerful companies in the world.
Amazon is an international
behemoth we have no say over
whatsoever.
They were building a union, they
did not have institutional union
infrastructure.
It was a rank and file effort.
It was that worker to worker
organizing that allowed them to
convince on of people to achieve
that historic victory last
month.
In the month since that
happened, Amazon has a chance to
regroup.
Amazon is trying to challenge
the national labor relations
board and throughout the
election results at the same
time they are paying union
busting workers making $400 an
hour telling people they don't
deserve $25.
The other thing is that workers
at this second facility are
largely part-time.
Their main concern is to get
more hours so they can make ends
meet.
When you are living that close
to the edge the thought of
losing this election, facing
retaliation, may scare you more
than it did the workers at the
first facility.
William: The other argument
Amazon makes to the workers is,
we pay you well, we offer
benefits, there is no need for a
union, just talk to us directly.
I have interviewed people who
have gone to Amazon and found
good jobs and benefits there,
but this movement continues and
Amazon has pushed hard against
the union.
They had a big fight in Alabama.
Can you remind us of what that
fight was and the status of
that?
Maximillian: Absolutely.
I was down in Bessemer, Alabama,
talking to workers and
organizers.
It was a different situation
where workers at another massive
fulfillment center, over 5000,
and Ed D industrialized mostly
black town with a high poverty
rate.
Amazon workers were making more
than the average Bessemer
citizen, but many people's
bodies have been broken working
for Amazon.
That is part of their business
model.
They have a turnover rate of 150
percent.
Many who started the campaign
won't be there by the time it
ends.
That is part of what Bessemer
workers were fighting against.
They held the union election,
they failed the first, but the
national labor relations board
ruled Amazon had illegally
tempered with that election, so
they got another shot at its.
They voted and the results are
in limbo because there are
challenged that -- challenged
ballots.
That is where things currently
stand in Bessemer.
William: Put these Amazon fights
into context with the national
labor movement.
We are seeing other sprouts of
organizing at Starbucks, apple
stores, rei, places that have
not had much union penetration.
Is this an actual sea change or
something else?
Maximillian: What I am hearing
from workers is there is a
rising labor consciousness.
People know they have been
getting screwed over for a long
time.
People over the last 40 years
have been more productive than
ever, but wages have stagnated
while the 1% is pocketing all
the extra generated revenue.
The cost of living keeps going
up, we are in an inflation
squeeze and we hit a pandemic
where it was made clear workers
would be prorated as essential,
but they got no say over safety
conditions and people are
rebelling against that.
Whether that is quitting their
jobs in record numbers, what was
called the great resignation.
Whether that is massive historic
unionization efforts at places
like Starbucks and Amazon,
whether that is unions that
already exist getting more
militant and hitting the picket
line like Kellogg's, and in
academia.
There are reasons why people are
standing up, but I think they
are looking at each other and
building on the successes of
each other and learning from
failures and that is what I
think makes this more of a
movement than random pockets of
activity.
William: The podcast is the
working people podcast.
Thank you for being here.
Maximillian: Thank you.
Judy: One more note, Amazon
turned down our request for an
interview on the elections and
the criticism, but a spokeswoman
said, we are glad our team at
ldj5, the Staten Island
warehouse, were able to have
their voices heard.
We look forward to working
together as we strive to make
every day better for our
employees.