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On the Clock is Motherboard's reporting on the organized labor movement, gig work, automation, and the future of work.
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"This is a union state," Smalls said. "There are husbands, wives, and brothers and sisters who are in unions. Workers know this is a bunch of B.S. and it's upsetting them."TCOEW, which is organizing three Staten Island facilities—JFK8, a massive fulfillment center and the neighboring sortation center and delivery station—remains independent and unaffiliated with any larger union. Their union calls itself the Amazon Labor Union. Workers involved in the Staten Island union drive have also been pulled aside by management to watch a video about Amazon's "code of business conduct and ethics," according to a report in TruthOut. The anti-union rhetoric in Staten Island mirrors the messaging Amazon used to bust a recent union drive at its facility in Bessemer, Alabama—suggesting that unions drain workers of their earnings and strip workers of their voice on the job. In Bessemer, Amazon launched a full blown union busting campaign that included anti-union text messages, mailers, mandatory meetings, banners, a website called DoItWithoutDues.com, and care packages sent to workers' homes.
The union representing the Amazon workers in Bessemer, the Retail Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) is asking the NLRB to throw aide the results of the election aside for preventing "a free and uncoerced exercise of choice by the employees." A hearing is scheduled for May 7, according to the union.Do you work for Amazon and have a tip to share? Please get in touch with Lauren via email lauren.gurley@vice.com or on Signal 201-897-2109.