How did Amazon workers win so big? And just how does Corporate America plan to take back power?
By Robert Reich, LA Progressive
Yesterday was a big day for American workers. I want to start with the remarkable worker victory at Amazon’s giant warehouse on Staten Island and then move to yesterday’s great jobs report — and the real danger lying within it.
First, the victory. America’s wealthiest, most powerful, and fiercest anti-union corporation — with the second-largest workforce in the nation (union-busting Walmart being the largest) — lost out to a group of warehouse workers who voted to form a union, by a remarkable 2,654 to 2,131. Even more remarkably, the workers won without any assistance from an established union or professional organizer.
If anyone had any doubts about Amazon’s determination to prevent this from ever happening, the corporation’s scorched-earth anti-union campaign in its Bessemer, Alabama warehouse should have put those doubts to rest. In New York, Amazon used every tool it had used in Bessemer, and then some. Many of its techniques are illegal under the National Labor Relations Act (hence the decision of the National Labor Relations Board to hold another election in Bessemer), but Amazon couldn’t care less. It’s rich enough to pay any fine or bear any public relations hit.
Recent Posts
WATCH: Google Fires Employees Involved In Protest Over Israeli Contract
April 18, 2024
Take Action Now The protesters have demanded that Google pull out of a $1.2 billion “Project Nimbus” contract. By Faizel Patel, The Citizen Tech…
Biden Is Still Working Hard To Block Palestinian Statehood
April 18, 2024
Take Action Now Despite Biden’s pledge to support a two-state solution, cables argue that Palestine should not be granted U.N. member status. by…
Bankers Salivate Over Lockheed Stock As Iran-Israel Conflict Looms
April 18, 2024
Take Action Now The American company has played an outsized role in Tel Aviv’s bombing and invasion of Gaza since Oct. 7. by Nick…
Fossil Fuel Hucksters Infiltrated A Civil Rights Convention
April 17, 2024
Take Action Now Al Sharpton invited methane representatives to his National Action Network convention, where they fear-mongered attendees about…