亚马逊在美国面临越来越多的工会推动

His mission: To convince the workers to form a union.

The e-commerce behemoth, one of the biggest employers in the United States, so far has kept itself union-free in its home market.

But Amazon faces imminent votes at three US facilities that could establish a union toehold, something labor experts think could spur on campaigns at other venues.

At JFK8, in the city’s Staten Island borough, 5,000 workers will be able to cast their ballots on the union bid from March 25 to 30, and the counting is scheduled to commence on March 31.

A vote at a second Staten Island venue, a sorting center employing 1,500 people, is scheduled to begin April 25.

In the southern state of Alabama, more than 6,000 workers at a warehouse in Bessemer have another opportunity to form a union. They have until March 25 to vote by mail, and the counting there will start March 28 and could take up to two weeks.

A large majority of workers at the Bessemer facility last year voted against unionizing, but US labor officials overseeing the process threw out the result, citing “interference” by Amazon.

Need for change

Smalls, 33, was fired in March 2020 just after organizing a protest for personal protective equipment amid the surge of the first major Covid-19 outbreak in New York.

Rather than go away quietly, Smalls spoke out about his experience and continued to clamor for more support for essential workers.

A speaker stands before a screen during an Amazon Labor Union ‘phonebanking’ event in New York city on March 11, 2022 Ed JONES AFP

Shortly after the first vote in Bessemer, Smalls together with current and former Amazon workers created the Amazon Labor Union.

“I know I am on the right side of this fight,” Smalls told AFP earlier this month during a phone-banking event at which about 20 volunteers gathered to call employees one-by-one in order to tout the potential of a union to boost wages, working conditions, benefits and job security.

Isaiah Thomas, 20, who is working at Bessemer in order to finance his studies, is using essentially the same arguments to convince his fellow Amazon workers.

After last year’s setback, the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, which backs the Alabama campaign, has redoubled its efforts to speak with workers, going door-to-door and during breaks.

“The moment that I stepped through the doors on my first day on the job, I realized that we needed to have change at Amazon,” said Thomas, who pointed to safety hazards, unreasonable workloads over a long day and limited break times.

Thomas joined the effort following outreach from union supporters.

Before then, “I didn’t really know how a union operated,” he said.

Uphill fight

Amazon has adopted a similar approach in both New York and Alabama, discouraging the workers from supporting unions at mandatory meetings, and through signs and other literature at the work site.

The company argues that forming a union will mar the company’s direct relationship with workers and represent a jump into the unknown, with no guarantee workers will wind up with better wages or job security.

“Our employees have the choice of whether or not to join a union,” said Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel. “As a company, we don’t think unions are the best answer for our employees.

“Our focus remains on working directly with our team to continue making Amazon a great place to work.”

Nantel touted company benefits that include health care and financing college tuition after three months of work. The company also pays competitively, including at Bessemer, where the $15.80 an-hour floor is more than twice the federal minimum wage.

Ruth Milkman, a sociologist of labor movements at City University of New York, said US labor law stacks the odds in favor of the company, so a union win would be significant.

“If either of these campaigns at Amazon were to be successful, it would be huge and that would be very inspiring to other people working at Amazon,” Milkman said.

However, “I’m not optimistic,” she said, noting that the New York campaign is not affiliated with an established union that could commit financial resources to support the effort to organize.

In Bessemer, meanwhile, workers have few alternatives in terms of jobs that pay as well as Amazon.

“You can be intimidated by employer propaganda,” Milkman said, adding that workers will “think twice” about rocking the boat.

他的使命：说服工人组建工会。

这家电子商务巨头是美国最大的雇主之一，到目前为止，它在国内市场一直没有工会。

但亚马逊在美国的三个工厂即将举行投票，这些工厂可以建立工会立足点，劳工专家认为这可能会刺激其他地方的竞选活动。

在该市史泰登岛自治市镇的 JFK8，5,000 名工人将能够在 3 月 25 日至 30 日期间为工会投标投票，计票计划于 3 月 31 日开始。

定于 4 月 25 日在史泰登岛的第二个场地进行投票，该场地是一个拥有 1,500 名员工的分拣中心。

在南部的阿拉巴马州，贝塞默一家仓库的 6,000 多名工人又有了组建工会的机会。他们必须在 3 月 25 日之前通过邮件投票，那里的计票将从 3 月 28 日开始，可能需要长达两周的时间。

去年，Bessemer 工厂的绝大多数工人投票反对成立工会，但监督这一过程的美国劳工官员以亚马逊的“干涉”为由驳回了这一结果。

需要改变

2020 年 3 月，33 岁的斯莫尔斯在纽约首次大规模爆发 Covid-19 疫情期间组织了一场个人防护装备***活动后被解雇。

斯莫尔斯并没有安静地离开，而是讲述了他的经历，并继续呼吁为基本工人提供更多支持。

2022年 3 月 11 日，在纽约市举行的亚马逊工会“电话银行”活动中，一位演讲者站在屏幕前。

在 Bessemer 第一次投票后不久，Smalls 与现任和前任亚马逊员工一起创建了亚马逊工会。

“我知道我站在这场斗争的正确一方，”斯莫尔斯本月早些时候在一次电话银行活动中告诉法新社，大约 20 名志愿者聚集在一起，一一打电话给员工，以宣传工会的潜力提高工资、工作条件、福利和工作保障。

20 岁的以赛亚·托马斯 (Isaiah Thomas) 在 Bessemer 工作以资助他的学业，他使用基本相同的论点来说服他的亚马逊员工。

在经历了去年的挫折之后，支持阿拉巴马州运动的零售、批发和百货商店工会加倍努力与工人交谈，挨家挨户和在休息时间。

“当我上班第一天走进大门的那一刻，我意识到我们需要在亚马逊做出改变，”托马斯说，他指出了安全隐患、漫长的一天中不合理的工作量以及有限的休息时间。

托马斯在工会支持者的宣传后加入了这一努力。

在那之前，“我真的不知道工会是如何运作的，”他说。

艰苦的战斗

亚马逊在纽约和阿拉巴马州都采取了类似的做法，不鼓励工人在强制性会议上以及通过工作场所的标志和其他文献来支持工会。

该公司辩称，组建工会将损害公司与工人的直接关系，并代表跳入未知领域，不能保证工人最终会获得更好的工资或工作保障。

“我们的员工可以选择是否加入工会，”亚马逊发言人凯利南特尔说。“作为一家公司，我们认为工会不是我们员工的最佳答案。

“我们的重点仍然是直接与我们的团队合作，继续让亚马逊成为一个理想的工作场所。”

Nantel 吹捧公司的福利，包括医疗保健和三个月工作后的大学学费。该公司的薪酬也具有竞争力，包括在 Bessemer，每小时 15.80 美元的最低工资是联邦最低工资的两倍多。

纽约城市大学劳工运动社会学家露丝·米尔克曼 (Ruth Milkman) 表示，美国劳工法有利于公司，因此工会获胜意义重大。

“如果亚马逊的这些活动中的任何一个要成功，那将是巨大的，这对在亚马逊工作的其他人来说将是非常鼓舞人心的，”米尔克曼说。

然而，“我并不乐观，”她说，并指出纽约的竞选活动不隶属于一个可以投入财政资源来支持组织努力的既定工会。

与此同时，在 Bessemer，工人们几乎没有像亚马逊一样高薪的工作选择。

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