The group founded by Jeff Bezos, which has always managed to avoid workers’ organizations since its creation in 1995, has suffered on Friday a staining political defeat.
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It was at the beginning of the Covid-19 crisis, in March 2020, at the Amazon JFK8 warehouse, a gigantic sorting center on Sten Island and destined to serve the huge New York metropolis. At the time, Big Apple had turned into a ghost town, the world epicenter of the pandemic, and Amazon was essential for the survival of the city.
Employees live in the fear of COVID-19. Learning that one of his colleagues has been tested positive, Chris Smalls, an African-American New Jersey, calls for the warehouse stop for disinfection. The direction refuses and places it in quarantine paid. In the wake, March 30, Chris Smalls organizes a small manifestation that is worth licensed, under the pretext he broke his confinement. “Acting me cost my job,” he deplores then.
Amazon, second employer from the country behind Walmart
The young man, elderly at the age of 29, continued to act, and stacks two years later, he clogged the Champagne, Friday, April 1, in New York : The employees of the JFK8 warehouse voted by a large majority – or 2,654 votes for and 2,131 against – for the syndication of their site, which employs more than 8,300 employees. “At the first union of American history at Amazon”, Trinsed Mr. Smalls after the counting. A first danc This group, second employer from the country behind Walmart, with more than 1.1 million employees.
The company founded by Jeff Bezos, which has always managed to avoid unions since its creation in 1995, wipes a stinging policy defeat. “We are disappointed with the result of the election in Sten Island because we think it’s better for our employees to have a direct relationship with the company,” lamented Amazon in a laconic statement.