The worker wave

By DAVID A. COOK
President

Hopefully you’re all aware of the historic organizing victory that took place last week in Staten Island, New York. An Amazon facility with roughly 8,000 employees was the site of a massive victory for Organized Labor. Employees there voted overwhelmingly to form a union for the first time in Amazon’s history.

What you may or may not know is the circumstances surrounding this election and just how remarkable the story truly is. The effort was led by Christian Smalls, a former employee at the facility that was terminated by Amazon. In the early days of the pandemic, Smalls led a walkout at his facility over safety concerns, demanding that the employer take more COVID precautions.

AMAZON MADE IT PERSONAL
Amazon did what big companies usually do, rallied a massive effort to undermine the worker criticism. In an email from Amazon’s chief counsel to 11 of the top company executives, the attorney recommended trying to make Christian Smalls “the face” of the organizing efforts of the company, and called him “not smart, or articulate.”

That moment may go down in Amazon history as one of the biggest mistakes they could have possibly made. Not only did the email become public and ignite a furious response from Christian’s coworkers, but making the now-terminated employee “the face” of the organizing effort turned out to be a big mistake, because just a few days ago Christian Smalls led a press conference attended by countless major media outlets announcing that they had defeated Amazon and successfully voted in favor of forming a union.

When one reporter asked Christian if he had a message for Jeff Bezos, Christian smiled and said: “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.”

FORMED A NEW UNION
The victory in Staten Island is something we haven’t seen in Labor for decades. Rather than engage with an existing union, as many Amazon workers are doing across the country, Christian and his coworkers decided to do something different. They have formed a brand new independent union known as the Amazon Labor Union (ALU). Many observers, including Labor unions, attorneys, and businesses thought his efforts were hopeless. An effort led by one man and his former coworkers — running a campaign from his car and setting up a tent to gather union card signatures at a bus stop frequently used by workers — seemed impossible.

DAVID VS. GOLIATH
The victory is perhaps the single most astonishing David vs. Goliath victory in Labor in my lifetime. It is a clear sign of the unprecedented momentum for workers in America right now. The ALU is already actively organizing other nearby Amazon facilities.

In Bessemer, Alabama where the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) – an offshoot of UFCW International — the union vote is currently too close to call. Last year, the union vote went almost 2-for-1 in favor of Amazon. Even if the efforts fall short again, the remarkable shift is impossible to ignore. Organizing efforts frequently encounter more than one loss before resulting in victory. Those who have been around long enough might remember that it took about 20 years to organize Smithfield Foods after multiple losses. Today, Smithfield is one of UFCW’s largest employers.

FOUR ST. LOUIS STARBUCKS FILE FOR A UNION VOTE
You may know that four St. Louis Starbucks have filed for a union vote.  An effort that began with a handful of stores in New York has spread across the country as more Starbucks workers organize their own campaigns every day.

In other words, two of the most recognizable companies in America are currently the target of a true grassroots Movement to form unions in their workplaces. Any organizer will tell you that these types of campaigns are the most likely to succeed: the kind led by the workers first and foremost, where workers take the wheel and take charge.

LOCAL 655 ORGANIZES FIRST MISSOURI CANNABIS
Great news on this important organizing front: Local 655 has just organized the FIRST medical cannabis store in Missouri!

On Monday, Root 66 on S. Grand voted unanimously to authorize our union to begin bargaining with their employer. (See story on Page 4.)

This breakthrough vote makes it clear we have no intention of leaving those workers behind here in St. Louis. We are here for a unique moment in the Labor Movement. Workers have more leverage than ever and the clear and obvious momentum. The general public is on our side and the press is more interested in our story than ever.

Medical cannabis is a growing industry here in St. Louis and across the country. UFCW represents the overwhelming majority of union cannabis workers across the country. This new industry is exploding and the workers that keep it up and running deserve to have good wages and benefits like any other good union worker. 

Take this recent wave of organizing after a year of workers threatening to strike to secure better wages and benefits in their union contracts and there is a very clear worker wave that is sweeping the nation. It’s one of the clearest and most widespread Labor trends I’ve seen in my life, and I’m excited to see where it leads, and how it impacts Labor right here in Missouri.

I don’t know how long this worker wave will last. I don’t know how much we will accomplish before it subsides, but we simply cannot let the moment pass. Local 655 will absolutely take advantage of this moment for our partners, and for the workers who wish to join a union. We’ll ride the wave as long as we can.