Amazon
Although the final terms are yet to be determined, it's still a big victory following losses in elections at other locations. Following these elections, there had been allegations and criticism of Amazon's tactics to dissuade workers which some deemed overly 'aggressive and sometimes illegal'. Workers at another Staten Island facility will be taking a vote later this month.
In this election, there had been some focus on the leader of the efforts, Christian Smalls a 33-year old organizer who was fired by Amazon in 2020 for leading a walkout to protest what he deemed unsafe working conditions. Looking back at news coverage in 2021, it's remarkable what he achieved.
He chose the unusual and criticized tactic of forming an independent union, because he believed it was the smartest way to rally employees, following failures led by other established unions to unionize warehouses.
In 2021, he said, "I believe we'll be successful. New York is a union town. The bus drivers, the sanitation workers, the police, the firefighters, they're all unionized. Everybody is related or knows somebody in a union."
In aGuardian article covering his efforts was less sanguine: "But many labor experts say it's a long shot, considering that Smalls and his nascent union have little organizing experience or expertise and are going up against a fiercely anti-union colossus with $386bn in annual revenues. Smalls's union is getting its funding through GoFundMe, collecting just $4,500 so far."
The achievement is commendable, but it should also be noted that there is some contribution from the tight labor market, resulting in more leverage for workers. This is a reversal from much of the past few decades when employers had more leverage. And, unions will likely result in some margin compression in the near term but there is disagreement on its impact in the longer term.
