Paying it Forward How the 1199 mothers of Amazon Labor Union leaders showed them the way.
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May-June 2022
Chris Smalls and Anjelika Maldonado have become household names since they formed a union at the Amazon fulfillment center on Staten Island and won the first US election in the giant corporation’s history. The David and Goliath struggle captured the imagination of millions of people around the world. It gave fresh hope to both existing union members and those who were considering organizing unions of their own. It is no accident that the first union victory against Amazon took place in New York. Roughly 20 percent of New York workers belong to a union, which is twice the national average of 10 percent. With 1199SEIU being the largest union in New York City, it is not too surprising that both Chris Smalls and Anjelika Maldonado’s mothers were 1199 members. Dawn Smalls joined 1199 when she started working as a secretary in the hospital formerly known as St Luke’s in Harlem, which is now Mount Sinai Morningside. “I always understood
