ALU Newsletter #14: Calling All Allies

3/10/2022 update from the Amazon Labor Union in Staten Island

Just some quick action updates for this week! We are just two weeks away from our first union election for the workers at JFK8, and we need all the help we can get to make phone calls to all of our coworkers in the building, informing them about the union and the election, countering Amazon management’s lies, and answering all worker questions and concerns.

If you or anyone else you know can help out on the phones, please get involved right away! You can even call workers from the comfort of your own home, using the NationBuilder FieldEdge app. Sign up to volunteer on our NationBuilder Action Portal, or email our ALU field director Mitch, for more information.

@TheIndypendent @TheIndypendent

Today, @amazonlabor kicked off a phone banking campaign at @iacenter. If JFK8, the largest Amazon warehouse on Staten Island employing ~6K workers, votes YES to a union in their upcoming NLRB election March 25-30, they’ll be the first Amazon warehouse to do so. @Shut_downAmazon

March 4th 2022

42 Retweets113 Likes

Upcoming dates for in-person phone-banking events:

• FRIDAY, March 11, 2022, 12:00pm-9:00pm, UNITE HERE Office, 275 7th Avenue, 16th Floor, New York, 10001

• SATURDAY, March 12, 2022, 9:00am-9:00pm, WAAR Office, 147 West 24th Street, 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10011

• MONDAY, March 14, 2022, 9:00am-9:00pm, WAAR Office, 147 West 24th Street, 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10011

• TUESDAY, March 15, 2022, 9:00am-9:00pm, WAAR Office, 147 West 24th Street, 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10011

• WEDNESDAY, March 16, 2022, 6:00pm-9:00pm, CPUSA HQ, 235 West 23rd Street, 7th Floor, 10011

• WEDNESDAY, March 23, 2022, 6:00pm-9:00pm, CPUSA HQ, 235 West 23rd Street, 7th Floor, 10011

---

We’re also hosting a fundraiser after our marathon phone banking event tomorrow at the Starr Bar in Bushwick, Brooklyn. Please come out to join in our celebration of worker democracy, and bring your friends and comrades!

FRIDAY, March 11, 8pm-12am, Starr Bar, 214 Starr Street, Brooklyn, NY, 11237

Amazon Labor Union @amazonlabor

Phone bank w/ Local 100 Unite Here in Manhattan this Friday at noon and come to our Fundraiser at Starr Bar in Brooklyn for upcoming election efforts from 8pm-12am‼️@Shut_downAmazon @amazonlabor @unitehere @unitehere100 @StarrBarBK alu.nationbuilder.com/phonebank_mar_… https://t.co/IlkgwiplRp

Christian Smalls @Shut_downAmazon

This Friday‼️NYC jammed pack day and night for the @amazonlabor starting at noon we’ll be launching another phone bank with Unite Here in Manhattan afterwards we’ll be heading over to Starr Bar in Brooklyn please join us sign up now https://t.co/KIcIA4K3qc 15 days to go ✊🏾#ALU https://t.co/fSSj0Of1Zn

March 9th 2022

3 Retweets7 Likes

Lastly, we’ll be rallying in front of JFK8 and LDJ5 on March 20, starting at 4pm. Show your solidarity as we show our strength in numbers outside our Amazon workplace next Sunday! We’ll have more information about the rally in the upcoming newsletter!

---

ALU News

• The Daily Beast: Amazon Launches Brutal Crackdown at Staten Island Warehouse Ahead of Union Vote

• Protocol: Amazon's union fight: Here's what's happening now

• The Indypendent: Labor Advocates Denounce Amazon’s Presence at Workplace Safety Conference

• Gothamist: Amazon, Starbucks and REI: A new crop of NYC union organizers may be having a moment

• Workers World: Workers Power Day builds solidarity for Amazon, Starbucks workers

• World-Outlook: Union Steps Up Efforts as Election Is Set for Second NY Amazon Warehouse

• CounterPunch: Cracking the Leviathan: Workers at Amazon

Amazon News

• VICE Motherboard: Warren, Sanders Demand Investigation into Amazon’s Attendance Policy

• KUOW: Amazon Fresh union in Seattle delivers demands, threatens strike

• The Seattle Times: New kind of union forming at Seattle Amazon Fresh stores: It all started at the hot-food bar

• The Washington Post: Amazon is killing off its physical bookstores, after killing everyone else’s

• Reveal: Behind the Smiles: Amazon’s internal records expose the true toll of its relentless drive for domination

• Ars Technica: Attackers can force Amazon Echos to hack themselves with self-issued commands

• The New York Times: A House panel calls for a criminal investigation into Amazon.

Union News

• The New York Times: New York Times Tech Workers Vote to Certify Union

• The Stranger: This Week in Worker Conquests: MLB Owners Cancel Games, Amazon Fresh Workers Make Demands, and Teachers’ Union Says Masks Stay on in Seattle Schools

• WBFO: Buffalo Starbucks workers’ allegations against the company, and how the NLRB might handle them

• Newsweek: Starbucks Fires Another Union Leader as Fight With Workers Intensifies

• The New York Times: Minneapolis Teachers Announce They Will Go on Strike

---

Help Support Our Organizers In Need

If you believe in the justice of the ALU cause and the importance of mutual aid, perhaps you can contribute some funds to our worker organizers who have faced hardship and retaliation by Amazon management for their fearless organizing and still continue to struggle:

GoFundMe: Gerald was Illegally Fired by Amazon

GoFundMe: Help Jason Anthony to cover monthly expenses

GoFundMe: Daequan was illegally fired and is now homeless

Any contributions at all are greatly appreciated! Thank you for your support and solidarity!

---

Until Next Week!

If you have a story or news tip you want to contribute to our newsletter, or any other comments or questions, please email amazonlaborunion@gmail.com.

Follow and boost ALU on social media!

• Twitter: @amazonlabor

• Instagram: @amazonlaborunion

• Tiktok: @amazonlaborunion

• Facebook: facebook.com/amazonlaborunion

• Facebook Group: facebook.com/groups/amazonlaborunion

• YouTube: Amazon Labor Union

• Website: amazonlaborunion.org