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The Workers Behind Amazon’s Historic First Union Explain How They Did It

Interview with
Christian Smalls
Angelika Maldonado
Michelle Valentin Nieves

Staten Island Amazon workers endured thunderstorms, racism, and arrests to organize in break rooms, bus stops, and grocery aisles to win their union — and one of the world’s most powerful companies couldn’t stop them. Here’s how they did it.

BROOKLYN, NY - APRIL 01: (L-R) Jean-Michel Mutore, a former Ama

Chris Smalls, founder and president of the Amazon Labor Union, celebrates with workers following their vote to unionize. (Yana Paskova / Washington Post via Getty Images)

At the end of March, workers at Amazon’s JFK8 facility made history: they voted in favor of a union. Much press coverage of their stunning win fails to capture the two-year road to victory, from Amazon’s public firing of organizer Chris Smalls in 2020 to the corporation’s vociferous anti-union campaign. But now that Amazon Labor Union (ALU) organizers have taken on a multibillion-dollar company and won, they’re eager to share their winning strategies with workers looking to unionize.

In a conversation with Jacobin contributor Eric Blanc (and guest Bernie Sanders, whose remarks can be read here), ALU organizers Michelle Valentin Nieves, Chris Smalls, and Angelika Maldonado offer their perspectives on the tactics that helped them build solidarity, created a thriving culture of organizing, and convinced their fellow coworkers to support the union. Throughout the discussion, hosted by Jacobin and the Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee, they stress that these tactics can be applied successfully to workplaces across the country, lending to the creation of a much bigger movement. The full discussion can be watched on Jacobin’s YouTube channel.

Eric Blanc

A lot of people are very inspired by what the ALU did, but they don’t know how to start. Most of us aren’t in unions. What is one thing you would tell someone who is considering organizing their workplace? What organizing task do you see as essential?

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