Against all odds, Amazon workers in New York organized a successful union against one of the biggest companies in the world. Here’s how. Hey, Jeff Bezos, I’m going to let you know something today: We are just getting started,” Chris Smalls declared at an August 2020 protest in Washington, D.C. August 2020 was the month Amazon founder Jeff Bezos became the …
These Are The Workers Who Took on Amazon, and Won Read More »
The Amazon Labor Union, after making history in April when it won the first-ever unionized Amazon warehouse, JFK8 on Staten Island, New York, was routed in May in a second election at LDJ5, another warehouse in the same complex. Amazon waged a fierce union-busting campaign, and it worked. Out of 1,633 eligible voters, 998 cast …
Amazon Bites Back in Vote at Second New York Warehouse Read More »
One month after making history by organizing the first U.S. Amazon warehouse, workers voted against forming a union at another facility in New York. Update (May 2, 2022): Following a hard-fought campaign, the Amazon Labor Union came up short at the LDJ5 complex, with 380 workers voting in favor of the union and 618 against. In response, ALU founder Chris Smalls wrote: “Despite todays outcome …
The battle over organized labor’s clout will be focused more squarely on Capitol Hill now that workers at an Amazon warehouse in Alabama have soundly defeated an effort to form a union there. Supporters and opponents of legislation that would significantly bolster unions were refining their arguments on Friday in light of the outcome in …
Union defeat at Amazon warehouse turns spotlight to the Hill Read More »
The union organizing effort at an Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama, appears headed for defeat after the first day of counting ballots. There were 3,215 votes, with the count standing at 1,100 against unionizing to 463 in favor. Voting ended March 29, but before the counting began, hundreds of ballots were challenged, most by the company. If those could be …
Amazon defeats Alabama union effort after dirty, but predictable, campaign Read More »
For the union trying to organize nearly 6,000 workers at an Amazon warehouse in Alabama, a successful election in the coming weeks could only be the beginning of the struggle to reach a collective bargaining agreement with the company. Workers at the fulfillment center in Bessemer, a Birmingham suburb, have been voting since late February …
For union battling Amazon, victory could bring a stalemate Read More »
As its workers in Bessemer, Alabama, seek to unionize, Amazon keeps touting its $15 an hour pay—more than double the federal minimum wage, which applies in Alabama. But it turns out that’s not such a great thing to brag about in that area. “The most recent figure for the median wage in greater Birmingham, a metropolitan area …
Thousands of warehouse workers at an Amazon plant in Bessemer, Alabama, are at the center of a potentially game-changing union vote taking place right now. On February 8, the warehouse workers were sent ballots by mail to decide over the next seven weeks if they want to join the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU). Just …
Why Amazon Is Fighting So Hard to Stop Warehouse Workers From Unionizing Read More »
As Halloween approached, Ronald Jackson spent his days at a Chicago-area warehouse for the Mars candy company ?“getting Halloween candy to America.” After co-workers got Covid-19, Jackson complained to management about a lack of safety precautions. Rather than improving precautions, he said, the company fired Jackson for an alleged infraction that occurred months ago. Such situations are why workers …
Hibaq Mohamed has worked for Amazon nearly as long as she’s been in the United States. In 2016, the twenty-something Somali immigrant landed in Minnesota by way of a refugee camp, joining one of the largest East African communities in the country. She soon joined the legion of workers who fuel the state’s main Amazon facility, the …
Meet the Warehouse Worker Who Took On Amazon Over Inhumane Conditions and Harassment Read More »
Madeline Messa is a 3L at Syracuse University College of Law. She graduated from Penn State with a degree in journalism. With her legal research and writing for Workplace Fairness, she strives to equip people with the information they need to be their own best advocate.
