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April 2, 2022 08:02 pm

What's Happening After an Amazon Warehouse's Workers Voted to Form a Union

Former Amazon employee Christian Smalls later spearheaded their historic successful unionization drive, reports Insider. On Friday he celebrated by popping open a bottle of champagne, adding "We want to thank Jeff Bezos for going to space, because when he was up there, we was signing people up. We were out here getting signatures...."Smalls became a vocal Amazon labor advocate over coronavirus safety measures in March 2020, and was fired the same month for what the company said was an unrelated event. In a leaked memo obtained by Vice in 2020, an Amazon lawyer told Jeff Bezos was that Smalls was "not smart, or articulate, and to the extent the press wants to focus on us versus him, we will be in a much stronger PR position...." Smalls told Insider his group never had the resources of a traditional union, and "We started from scratch with nothing."But now the president of the powerful Teamsters union says his own group "will step up the pressure on Amazon and mount its own efforts to unionize the company..." reports the Guardian:In an interview with the Guardian Sean O'Brien said it was vital to organize Amazon, asserting that the e-commerce company has "total disrespect" for its workers and was putting downward pressure on standards for unionized warehouse workers and truck drivers across the U.S. "You have an employer like Jeff Bezos taking a joyride into space, and he bangs on his workers to be able to fund his trip," said O'Brien, who was inaugurated as Teamsters president on 22 March. He asserted that Amazon workers would benefit greatly from joining the Teamsters, saying that Amazon's drivers and warehouse workers are treated and paid considerably worse than their unionized counterparts at other companies.... Concerned that Amazon's lower pay is undercutting Teamster employers and Teamster contracts, O'Brien said he didn't want Amazon to threaten the livelihood of Teamsters or "diminish the standards established by collective bargaining agreements".... News of the Staten Island victory comes as union activity is experiencing a resurgence in the U.S. Meanwhile, long-time Slashdot reader theodp shares Amazon's reaction:The complete April 1st Statement from Amazon on Staten Island union vote: "We're disappointed with the outcome of the election in Staten Island because we believe having a direct relationship with the company is best for our employees. "We're evaluating our options, including filing objections based on the inappropriate and undue influence by the National Labor Relations Board that we and others (including the National Retail Federation and U.S. Chamber of Commerce) witnessed in this election." Both groups actually only objected to one specific lawsuit brought against Amazon by America's National Labor Relations Board seeking reinstatement of an employee fired 23 months earlier. The National Retail Federation argues that suit gave the appearance of trying to influence the election, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce similarly made the argument that the action "seems dubiously timed to sway voters." Engadget reported last month that that employee was also "fired in the early days of the pandemic after he helped lead protests over safety concerns involving the company's COVID-19 protocols."

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