
When the Amazon workers on Staten Island staged a vote to unionize which was successful in spring 2022, and they became the first American workplace of this retail giant to do so, it was described by many as the most significant labor struggle in the United States in almost one hundred years.
To solicit the employees of the JFK8 Amazon warehouse to vote for union representation, Organized workers of the Amazon Labor Union (ALU) made a case of David against Goliath in the era of globalization And it was reassuring that chants at grass root mobilization still has the chance of winning against massive consolidation of employers, management tricks of intimidations and the several other factors determining the possibility of building worker power. It was a matter of strength, and the massive employee lead campaign at the space of 8000 plus employees in which a coalition of workers who were at the time looking for unionization unlike the unity, facilitated the drive made it victorious all the same, even though bringing about unionization was giving the activists a territory they had not been before as well as placing them immediately in a continuous legal contestation with Amazon which has up to this time not acknowledged or entered into negotiations with the ALU regarding a contract.
In their book “Union,” a historical account of the ALU and how they got to the momentous time in American history is documented and done on film by Brett Story Specialist in “The Hottest August” and Stephen Maing Specialist Estando “Crime + Punishment” who capture this powerful moment by focussing on the small, ground-level details of the story, with the Amazon workers from Staten Island that aim to not only overcome the giant corporation but to instate a union throughout the process.
This is not a talking head documentary but rather a subjective account of the unionization attempt, and its sequel “Union” very often plays like a suspense movie courtesy of its editing sharp and smart rhythms. Early in the narrative, Story, and Maing combine the image of Jeff Bezos flying on a rocket made by his Blue Origin company with Amazon workers entering the workplace in a tired state; it conveys the breathtaking logistics of the company while putting to the fore the human aspects that are all too often lost in the overly excited but still quite shallow words of those covering Amazon’s grand ambitions.
Filmed over a period spanning three years, Story and Maing’s documentary reveals the price that comes with on-demand strategies and delicate if not terrible, working conditions in Amazon-controlled assembly factories. Persistent oversight, considerable injury rates, and absence of free time are the inevitable stresses associated with the work in Amazon warehouses which have been systematically ignored or misreported by Amazon itself.
The specter of retaliation against organizing workers is always there; besides spending hundreds of millions in unilateral antiunion strategy, which includes compulsory “captive audience” meetings that are now outlawed in New York state, Amazon clearly threatens the employment of workers who get close to the unionization movement.
In a rather slow yet indomitable motion as suggested by the images of huge freighter vessels plying sea routes carrying supplies, Story and Maing’s documentary is clever in presenting its argument precisely within the self-generated confines of steps leading to the failure of the union in the film. At the same time, however, the film also demonstrates in a thoughtful way how interactions between the people involved, the workers at the union level in this case, are strong strategies that can be used to setbacks. Some of the most remarkable footage, inside Amazon headquarters, covertly films one of those captive audience meetings; one of the meetings takes place in the presence of materials: “We’re asking you to do three simple things: get the facts, ask questions and vote no to the union” and its speakers are ALU organizers who are able to inhibit Amazon managers long enough for them to present their argument.
Alu organizer Chris Smalls is the key figure of “Union,” however, as the documentary probes his personality it refrains from elevating him as the dramatized hero of the document.
(That would be an easy trap considering that he became the public face of the organization in the period that “Union” describes.) Smalls, who objected to the lack of PPE during the outbreak and was subsequently let go by Amazon, is a father of three who was moved to activism by the abuse he saw showing against the workers of the company. His strong personality allows him to love and support his “comrades,” but, when necessary, he also doesn’t hesitate to lead and push through the conflict between the unions.
Among the many merits of the film is the way it would be able to render visible the sad myriad of tensions between people who are actually working towards common goals. So, for example, how do the not-so-distant worlds of two subjects: Maddie, a white college graduate who wishes to lend the skills she learned to the cause, and Natalie, an older Latina woman who had been living in her car for years. In such a heated situation, Natalie does not accept the white male organizers’ arguments that Chris allows himself to be arrested by the police of New York in order to focus attention on the struggle for unionization. Eventually, it is Natalie’s feeling of discontent with the ALU first, because of her differences with the leadership, and second, because of her inclination to wait for the consolidation of the support of bigger unions that drives her out of the organization. It is a testimony to the complexities of the motivations of individuals and the inadequacy of the “sweeping success” that these kinds of undertakings inevitably lead to.
The film “Union” chronicles the internal disputes about governance, organization of activities, and leadership that preoccupied the ALU in relation to its first successful vote for unionization and were deepened with the failed exercise to unionize a second warehouse after the first one. Although Smalls’ charisma passion and commitment were the driving force behind JFK8 being unionized, the film depicts this reality as people coming together and achieving it. Of particular importance, the film does not glorify Smalls over everyone else at the expense of everyone else, as his leadership also contributed to the weakening of the ALU on numerous occasions.
This becomes particularly important in the film’s latter half after the viewers have seen the unionization vote, during which the hard work that needs to be done eventually dawns on everyone. It is not in doubt that the ALU organizers demonstrated their heroism. But having one victory in more than one war for workers’ rights and with Amazon fighting or undermining its every achievement, poor inadequacy looks to be the last defeat in understanding, not surpassing victory, as the film “Union” would have stated.
The documentary film portrays the struggles and strengths of the people who form the foundation of global architecture. By staying on the frontlines of the battle against Amazon’s exploitation of workers, Story, and Maing show the reality of the world they inhabit.
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