Union Matters

Amazon faces off with union in fight for a second warehouse

By HALELUYA HADERO

AP Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP)—The startup union that clinched a historic labor victory at Amazon earlier this year is slated to face the company yet again, aiming to rack up more wins that could force the reluctant retail behemoth to the negotiating table.

This time, the Amazon Labor Union and the nation’s second-largest private employer are facing off in the town of Schodack, near Albany, New York. Workers at the warehouse there, which employs roughly 800 people according to Amazon, will finish voting in a union election on Monday. The votes will be tallied Tuesday by the National Labor Relations Board.

“There are also a lot of odds against us, but I think there’s definitely a huge possibility we might win,” said Sarah Chaudhry, an 18-year old who’s been organizing workers since joining the company two months ago. “I can’t jinx it.”

The face-off near the state’s capital—one of the most unionized metro areas in the country, according to Unionstats.com—marks the third time the ALU is taking on Amazon following its initial win at a Staten Island facility in April. That victory, the first ever for an Amazon facility in the U.S., came as a surprise even to those sympathetic to the union’s calls for a $30 hourly wage and better working conditions for warehouse workers.

But soon enough, challenges began to appear. A loss at a second, nearby warehouse in May took some wind out of the union’s sail. Fractures were exposed when some prominent organizers left the group.

Elsewhere, the union lost time and resources attempting to cement its lone win. Amazon has accused the ALU and the NLRB’s field office in Brooklyn of tainting the vote. In a quest for a redo election, the company filed more than two dozen objections with the agency, triggering a lengthy process that could take years to resolve.

Last month, a federal labor official who presided over the hearings ruled against the company, which has noted it intends to appeal. During an interview last month, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy also signaled the retail giant could drag the case to federal court.

“Amazon is ready to fight this to the death,” said John Logan, the director of labor and employment studies at San Francisco State University. “And the problem for the Amazon Labor Union is if you only have one warehouse… you’re never going to have enough leverage to force the company to bargain.”

The election in Albany offers the ALU a chance to show its win isn’t a one-off, experts say. Heather Goodall, the main worker organizer in the facility, launched the campaign at the warehouse in May, three months after joining the company and a month after the Staten Island win. Her passion for unionizing, she said, came from the death of her son, who committed suicide six years ago while working for a large company.

“So when I heard that there were working conditions that were suspicious in my own community —and I have a 17- and 15-year-old that attends the school district in the area where Amazon conducts its business—I wanted to see firsthand what was going on,” Goodall said.

Amazon launched its own campaign to push back the organizing effort. As it did with other warehouses, the company held mandatory meetings at the Schodack facility in an attempt to persuade workers to reject the union. It also put up flyers and signs across the warehouse urging workers to “vote no.”

“Don’t sign an ALU card,” the company said on one sign posted on a screen at the facility. “The ALU is untested and unproven.”

“We’ve always said that we want our employees to have their voices heard, and we hope and expect this process allows for that,” Paul Flaningan, an Amazon spokesperson, said in a statement.

Last week, Amazon workers at a separate facility in California’s Moreno Valley filed for their own union election, seeking to join the ALU. Nannette Plascencia, who has worked at the warehouse for seven years, said she and her colleagues have been attempting to organize the facility for more than two years, but the company’s famously high turnover rate had made it challenging to build up enough support.

Another election spearheaded by the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union at a warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama, remains too close to call with 416 challenged ballots still waiting for adjudication. The vote, held this spring, was the union’s second attempt to organize there, following a prior loss that it contested.

Unlike Starbucks stores that have voted to unionize by the hundreds in the past year, organizing Amazon warehouses is a much more arduous task. The facilities typically employ hundreds—or thousands—of employees. And it can take months to build up enough showing of support for an election.

Amazon warehouse workers at a facility in Garner, North Carolina, a suburb of Raleigh, have been organizing for months and plan to file for an election by the end of summer next year, said Tim Platt, an Amazon worker who’s been soliciting support for the campaign under a group called Carolina Amazonians United for Solidarity and Empowerment, or CAUSE. Organizers are taking their time to file for an election so they can be confident of the outcome by the time workers start voting.

The workers there chose not to align with the ALU, though organizers still coordinate with each other routinely. Platt said workers might join another union in the future. They’ve met with the Teamsters, which launched a division last month focused on organizing Amazon workers. But for now, Platt said they’re only focused on organizing.

Mendoza, ALU’s director of communications, said the union is trying to support other workers forming their own organizing committees across the country. However, their main task will be filing their own election petitions and building up more support at the facility that voted to unionize in case it needs to call for an action, such as a strike.

The union has been able to hire two full-time staff to help out with trainings and meetings. A $250,000 donation from the American Federation of Teachers has also allowed them to get office space in Staten Island. They’re building support, but it takes time, Mendoza said.

“You can lose some elections or win other ones,” he said. “We’re not concerned about an individual result the way Amazon is. They can’t really afford to lose one.”

Amazon workers reject union bid in upstate New York

By HALELUYA HADERO

AP Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP)—Amazon workers in upstate New York overwhelmingly rejected a union bid on Tuesday, handing a second defeat to the labor group that’s been attempting to drag the company to the negotiating table since its historic win earlier this year.

This time around, warehouse workers near Albany cast 406 votes, or about 66%, against the Amazon Labor Union, giving the company enough support to push back the fledgling group composed of former and current Amazon workers.

According to the National Labor Relations Board, 206 workers, or 33.6%, voted in favor of joining the union. The agency said 918 employees were eligible to vote, and the 31 ballots that were challenged by either Amazon or the union were not enough to sway the outcome.

The facility is located in the town of Schodack, near one of the most unionized metro areas in the country, according to Unionstats.com. It’s what’s known as a non-sort center, a warehouse where employees pack more bulky items such as rugs, patio furniture or outdoor equipment.

Experts had noted a win there would have given the union more leverage in its quest to negotiate a contract with Amazon and a chance to demonstrate its prior win at a facility on Staten Island, New York wasn’t a one-off. For now, those hopes seem to be dashed.

This was the fourth union election at an Amazon warehouse this year, and the third one led by the Amazon Labor Union. Following their unexpected win in April in Staten Island, the group was stung by a loss shortly thereafter at another, smaller facility nearby. A union election in Alabama, led by the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union at a warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama, remains too close to call.

Many believed organizing the second Staten Island facility would be more challenging due to the larger share of parttime workers, who might have other sources of income and less of a connection with their co-workers. The union had less time to convince workers. And Chris Smalls, the fired Amazon worker who leads the union, and other organizers were also more distracted with media appearances and defending their historic win.

Amazon has been trying to undo the ALU’s lone victory, filing more than two dozen objections to the election and seeking a redo vote. Last month, a federal labor official concluded the union should be certified as a bargaining representative for the warehouse. Amazon, which hasn’t recognized the union, said it intends to appeal the decision and CEO Andy Jassy has also signaled the company could take the case to federal court.

ALU organizers have said they were focused on pressuring Amazon to negotiate a contract at the facility that voted to unionize and petitioning for more elections. Last week, Amazon workers at a separate facility in California filed for their own union election, seeking to join the ALU.

Freedom Fighter— Charles Sherrod

A recent documentary on the EDITORIAL “rebellious life” of Rosa Parks, a feature film on Emmett Till, and the death of the Rev. Charles Sherrod on Tuesday at his home in Albany, Georgia at 85 all are storied reminders of the Civil Rights Movement. Most people know of Parks’ gallant stand in Montgomery and Till’s brutal murder in 1955, which sparked the movement— and an incident Parks said was on her mind when she took her bold action. But less is known about Minister Sherrod, a founder of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and its first field secretary.

Sherrod was among the members of SNCC who made sure theory and practice were applied in the fight to end racism and discrimination. Those ardent followers of the movement may recall segments of “Eyes on the Prize,” a remarkable documentary in which you can view Sherrod in the student “Freedom Singers” from Albany State College. Sherrod is also seen working the rural section of Georgia, a region where he focused his attention on his militancy and creating cooperative farms.

This is just a notice on his passing and later we will profile his significant contributions in a future profile. Even a lengthy obituary can’t capture the dedication he gave to liberating the oppressed in this country.

Presente, Rev. Sherrod you fought the good fight and left behind an equally formidable companion, Shirley, to continue the struggle. The two of you can be compared to other dauntless duos, and you will be missed.

As his wife said, “His life serves as a shining example of service to one’s fellow man.”

Fighting race & class in homeless shelter distribution

By ASSEMBLYMAN CHARLES BARRON

We, listed below, adamantly oppose Mayor Eric Adams’ proposed relocation of asylum-seekers at the facility located at 501 New Lots Avenue in East New York, Brooklyn.

We oppose this for the following reasons: 1. You recently declared a state of emergency in New York City, regarding the influx of asylum-seekers. However, East New York was already in a state of emergency regarding the oversaturation of homeless shelters in our district. This oversaturation is a violation of the Fair Share Act. Your proposal to use 501 New Lots Ave will only exacerbate an already existing out of control situation regarding housing the homeless. 2. The proposed site at 501 New Lots Avenue is one block away from an already existing shelter used to house homeless women, and two blocks away from a childcare center and a school. Presently, we are having major challenges and suffering serious consequences in that area. We already have a functioning task force of community leaders, city agencies, faith-based institutions, and community organizations to address this community crisis. 3. We say, that as mayor, you should not violate the Fair Share Act in communities that are already over saturated. You should not force this on our community. We call on you to follow the law and house the asylum seekers in those communities that are not oversaturated and have not historically shouldered their fair share of providing temporary shelter.

We understand the tremendous burden and pressure put on you by elected officials from other states, who spitefully made their politically charged decision to send asylum seekers to New York and other locations. However, Mayor, there are 9 districts in this city without any shelters and the 2 districts with the most continue to receive shelters.

We want to go on record and say that we whole-heartedly support temporary housing of asylum-seekers as a solution to the state of emergency, however, the inequity in this plan will only worsen our situation.

Mr. Mayor, we urge you to cease and desist moving forward with this plan. Thank you.

Charles Barron, NYC Council Member 42nd District

Sandy Nurse, NYC Council Member 37th District

Alice Lowman Acting Chairperson, Community Board 5 Melinda Perkins, District Manager, Community Board 5

Paul Muhammad, Co-Chair of the Land Use Committee of CB5 Pastor Anthony Graham, New Hope Family Worship Center Joyce Scott-Brayboy, Emerald Green Tenant Association

AMNEWS READERS WRITE

Trump has been issued a subpoena by the January 6th committee. What’s next?

By JAMES B. EWERS JR. ED.D.

If you play word association games, the words crime and guilt go together. Indictment and charges go together too. Additionally, procrastination and delay are words used when people want to put off bad news. If you are bogged down in the criminal justice system, these words have meaning. The former president is drowning in a sea of criminal allegations, and he knows these words quite well. Over time, this mischievous pattern of behavior has been his calling card. He won the White House because America was blindfolded and didn’t see him for what he was. Trouble found him before, and it continues to track him relentlessly. It appears with each passing day, there is a new allegation against him. If you are a supporter of his and an unpaid minion of the former presiElinor R. Tatum: Publisher dent, then brace and Editor in Chief yourself for more Kristin Fayne-Mulroy: Managing Editor chaos. Nayaba Arinde: Editor I have found it Cyril Josh Barker: Digital Editor suspicious as to Damaso Reyes: Investigative Editor why people conSiobhan "Sam" Bennett: tinue to support Chief Revenue Officer and Head of Advertising Wilbert A. Tatum (1984-2009): Chairman of the Board, CEO and Publisher Emeritus him. The question at the probation desk is why do people support him given his track record? Wake up! This man is borderline on many fronts.

The January 6th Committee met last week and dropped this news on America. The Committee voted 9-0 to subpoena him. If you didn’t watch it, hit the rewind button because it’s a history lesson.

Representative Liz Cheney, R-WYO said, “We are obligated to seek answers directly from the man who set this all in motion and every American is entitled to those answers so we can act now to protect our republic.”

The former president in a written 14page response has called the subpoena a witch hunt. Is Mr. Trump suggesting that he should not be subjected to traditional rules and regulations? Taking classified documents to your house is not illegal? Now Mr. Trump’s lawyers are scrambling to put together a plausible defense. I think for his lawyers that it’s like the nightmare on Elm Street. Do his attorneys believe he can beat these allegations?

Their public answer is yes, and their behind closed doors answer is no. That is what I think.

The House Select Committee met for the ninth time, and this could be their final meeting. New footage and new testimony made the January 6th attack on the Capitol look darker and more destructive.

The mid-term elections in my opinion will loom large if the truth is to take its rightful place.

I suspect if the Democrats keep the House, the January 6th Committee will continue its work. If not, the evidence they have gathered and the long hours of researching the facts will simply go away. Memories will become shorter, and evidence will disappear.

The former president wanted the Supreme Court to intervene in the classified documents fiasco. They rejected his plea, so he is left without them being a safeguard.

Bradley P. Moss, a lawyer specializing in national security issues said, “Mr. Trump just lost his last shot at keeping the classified documents away from the government. And he will never see them again unless he is indicted and maybe then, maybe not.”

As the days of fall come upon us, it may also signal the fall of Donald Trump. Like a multiple-choice test, he kept choosing the wrong answer. Had the former president chosen truth and honesty, he would not be in this tumultuous state. He, along with his followers, sidestepped right and tried to justify wrong. To borrow a widely used phrase, that is not the American way.

So now as the end is approaching, he is grasping for air. Mr. Trump is beyond embarrassment as he is trying to hold on to whoever and to whatever.

Run, run, run but you sure can’t hide. Maybe Mr. Trump should listen to these Temptations lyrics?

There could be a message in there for him.

DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not represent those of the New York Amsterdam News. We continue to publish a variety of viewpoints so that we may know the opinions of others that may differ from our own.

ARMSTRONG WILLIAMS

Our right to free expression is unquestionably the most significant of all of the liberties that we hold most dear. It is the foundation of every right that we enjoy as Americans and is the reason why society exists in its current form as well as the reason why it will continue to evolve each year so long as this right exists.

As we are well aware, the First Amendment guarantee of free expression only extends to censorship by state actors such as Congress, local governments and school boards. That’s why, when a private entity decides to suppress speech, we frequently tolerate a certain degree of censorship before reacting and resisting. No revolution is necessary to change the policy of even the largest corporations and no blood or death is required to strike fear into the hearts of private organizations. Instead, we need only to vote with our wallets and choose to transact with new companies that emerge as a result of the improper decisions made by the existing companies. Governments, on the other hand, do not provide us with this right; therefore, we must be willing to fight to the death to restore the principles we desire should the government overreach.

But what happens when a business with the same impact on your life as the government goes badly? Recently, the payment processing behemoth, PayPal, crossed a line by implementing one of the most alarming and totalitarian rules ever imposed on clients by a private company. PayPal, a company already reviled for its poor customer service and arbitrary rules, decided to begin assuming the role of the thought police by modifying its terms of service to allow it to collect a $2,500 fine in addition to freezing a person’s funds if they spread “misinformation.”

It is not difficult to imagine the consequences of a payment processing giant instituting such an oppressive policy, making it not only the arbitrator of truth but also giving it a stranglehold over a person’s livelihood when it disagrees with that individual. The chilling impact on speech was evident, for instance, when the Canadian government began to freeze the bank accounts of protesting truck drivers during the pandemic. It seems that PayPal, observing the effect Canada’s policy had on protests—essentially eliminating the protests overnight—decided to introduce a similar rule to establish themselves as influential speech moderators.

Misinformation is harmful to society and should not be tolerated. However, creating rules that permit a single body to determine what constitutes misinformation and what constitutes truth is inappropriate. Frequently, misinformation is just an unproven theory or a disputed viewpoint that causes dissidents to consider the opposition as the enemy.

Thankfully, PayPal reversed this decision, explaining that it was an error and was never intended to be included in the terms of service. Whether or not this is the case, it is evident at this point that PayPal is ready, willing and able to introduce repressive and restricted policies on the platform if public opinion shifts in the appropriate direction. If PayPal wants to improve its public image, it must explain in detail how and why the error occurred. Furthermore, PayPal should seek to identify the individual or individuals responsible and explain why they were granted the permission to amend the terms and even why they were permitted to consider those changes. In the absence of full transparency, it will be impossible for customers to trust PayPal’s word, given the company’s existing poor reputation.

There is no doubt in my mind that situations similar to this will continue to recur in the private sector and the chilling impact they will have, in the absence of a government response, will likely manifest itself once more. What, after all, prevents other large tech platforms or even traditional banks from establishing themselves as the arbiters of truth and denying access to money, the basic means of subsistence in the modern world to those who propagate ideas with which they disagree? The answer is nothing; the only thing preventing them from using this option is the market, but should the market shift in the direction of socialism, Marxism, or communism, this future seems less improbable and more inevitable. It is only a matter of time before the prevalent view of speech shifts from freedom to restriction. Even worse, once this day arrives, the chilling effect on speech will be so severe that there will be no going back, as the repercussions of speaking out against the platform will be too strong for the average individual to bear.

This raises the question of how far we are prepared to go to support the old saying that private companies can do whatever they want because they are not governmental entities. Private companies should have the flexibility to conduct business as they see fit, and this includes highly restrictive speech rules. Nonetheless, there comes a point when the notion of private company freedom undermines the rights that allow society to exist.

Today, we permit corporations to do whatever they wish because they have their own freedom of speech rights, allowing them to determine who can access their platform and what they can say on it. However, PayPal’s case renders this premise essentially worthless. PayPal is a global platform that processes more than one trillion dollars. Are we prepared to concede that a platform with near-monopoly power over our livelihoods should be entitled to impose onerous speech restrictions? A practically unstoppable force with considerably more power than the government should not have that authority.

This situation exemplifies the notion that corporations are the true government. Unless something is done to prevent it, the eerie scenario in which corporations dictate our lives will become increasingly plausible. Whatever the resolution, be it a constitutional amendment, a Supreme Court opinion, or some other agreement, the best we can do for the time being is vote with our dollars to ensure that the American people are not held by the neck and shackled to the unchecked power of corporate behemoths that seek to do more than conduct business, but to control our lives and our thoughts.

Armstrong Williams (@ARightSide) is manager / sole owner of Howard Stirk Holdings I & II Broadcast Television Stations and the 2016 Multicultural Media Broadcast Owner of the year. www.armstrongwilliams.co | www.howardstirkholdings.com

CHRISTINA GREER PH.D.

Our democracy is in danger, folks. I don’t want to sound alarmist or histrionic, but we are in dangerous waters right now. Never have I seen so many Americans emboldened to say racist, anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim, antisemitic, and anti-LGBT sentiments. I am seeing more and more frightening videos of ordinary white Americans deputizing themselves to stop and harass people of color in stores, on the street, or just doing mundane activities while minding their own business.

What is so disturbing, but not surprising at all, is the vitriolic and incendiary language of the 45th president. Of course, he still believes in fanning the flames of white supremacy. I have sadly grown accustomed to his rhetoric over the years; he is going to say what he feels to try to inspire his followers. He will consistently try to scare them into believing they are losing “their country.” Rally after rally he uses racist dog whistles and now blatant statements to frighten his supporters into “fighting” for what is theirs. And in a nation that believes in selling guns and ammunition to anyone, this rhetoric is laying the foundation for violent responses, similar to what we saw on January 6, 2021. Sadly, that was likely a foreshadow of what is to come if the Republican party does not get their supporters under control.

What is even more disturbing, beyond the violent rhetoric of the former president and so many Republican candidates for office, is the absolute silence by prominent Republicans on the local, state, and national levels. Where are Mitch McConnell, Mitt Romney, Liz Cheney, Lindsey Graham, and Susan Collins? Why aren’t prominent Republicans denouncing these white nationalist statements against Blacks, Jews, Muslims, immigrants, and so many other groups?

When we go to the polls on November 8, 2022, we must remember that our freedom and our democracy are on the ballot. We must have qualified members of Congress who denounce far flung conspiracy theories. We must support candidates who have promised to uphold the Constitution and the will of the people, not the whims of the 45th president. We need people with courage, convictions, ideas, and dignity. We need people elected who care about this country and the future of this nation, both economically and ideologically.

I am ringing the alarm. We are in troubling times with some real dangerous people on the ballot. One need only look at the Republican Trump loving candidate for New York governor to see how the seeds of division know no geographic boundaries. We must vote, have a voting plan, and make sure everyone we know and love has a voting plan as well. We must educate ourselves and prepare for Tuesday November 8th like our lives depend on it. We have no time to waste—get to work.

Christina Greer, Ph.D., is an associate professor at Fordham University, the author of “Black Ethnics: Race, Immigration, and the Pursuit of the American Dream,” and the co-host of the podcast FAQ-NYC and host of The Blackest Questions podcast at TheGrio.