SNY5 Union Represntation Form
Please be sure to click on this link to join the Amazon Labor Union shop
forming at SNY5 in Melville, NY if you have questions email me at helene@katrinasdream.org
The Amazon Labon Union Backstory
Here’s how Chris Smalls, who was fired from an Amazon Warehouse, beat the retail giant
“Smalls’ Amazon story begins in 2018, when he says he helped open the New York warehouse while employed as a supervisor for the online retailer. That’s when he founded the ALU, bringing together a scrappy group of former and current warehouse workers.
It was that Staten Island group that made history on April 1, after going head-to-head with Amazon in a union vote, and winning. This marked the first successful U.S. organizing effort in the retail giant’s history.” [Excerpt]
How Two Best Friends Beat Amazon
“Amazon formed a reaction team involving 10 departments, including its Global Intelligence Program, a security group staffed by many military veterans. The company named an “incident commander” and relied on a “Protest Response Playbook” and “Labor Activity Playbook” to ward off “business disruptions,” according to newly released court documents.
In the end, there were more executives — including 11 vice presidents — who were alerted about the protest than workers who attended it. Amazon’s chief counsel, describing Mr. Smalls as “not smart, or articulate,” in an email mistakenly sent to more than 1,000 people, recommended making him “the face” of efforts to organize workers. The company fired Mr. Smalls, saying he had violated quarantine rules by attending the walkout.” [Excerpt]
Articles of Interest
A monopoly-busting Amazon lawsuit might be Biden’s boldest move yet to tame tech
“A long-awaited antitrust case against Amazon’s massive online retail operations is expected to be filed in federal court as soon as Tuesday, according to three people with knowledge of the matter.
The Federal Trade Commission has been preparing a complaint since at least the start of this year targeting an array of Amazon’s business practices. The exact details of the lawsuit are not known, and changes to the final complaint are possible until it’s officially submitted. But personnel throughout the agency, including FTC Chair Lina Khan herself, have homed in on several of Amazon’s business practices, POLITICO has previously reported.” [Excerpt]
WASHINGTON, June 20 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), sent a letter today to Amazon Chief Executive Officer Andy Jassy initiating a HELP Committee investigation into the abysmal safety record in Amazon’s warehouses and the company’s treatment of workers who are injured in those warehouses. Sanders also published a website where Amazon workers can submit stories about their experiences at the company to help inform the Committee’s investigation. [Excerpt]
SNY5 Organizing Updates
23rd of September
Things are moving along here at SNY5. We now have five (5) committee members. I have filed two internal complaints, two OSHA complaints (one regarding the EMF levels), and the Amazon Labor Union has filed two National Labor Right Board complaints ron my behalf egarding harrassment for organzing an ALU shop here at the Melville, NY.
2nd of September
This page is in its’ very early development. I recommend visiting daily over the months to come as we address the importance of addressing the plight of those who served on the frontlines of COVID19 pandemic and whose safety is till overlooked today. And a company whose primary objective is singularly profit.
For now I am going to just post some random links but they are not truly random. If you are an associate at SNY5 I urge you to go to the Amazon Labor Union Representation Form and sign-up and have much to add here so continue to come to this page as well.
26th of August
DC Rally
