Fighting the Giant.
Amazon workers are on strike against one of the world’s largest corporations. The workers leading the charge spoke with Left Voice about grueling working conditions, relentless surveillance, and their determination to fight back with their power as workers.
Amazon workers at a number of facilities across the country recently began a historic strike, leveraging the breakneck pace of the holiday season to launch a struggle against the company that has become the face of modern exploitation. This is the first national strike against Amazon, the second largest company in the world, and the largest action so far against the employer. Less than four years ago, Amazon workers at the JFK8 facility in New York set the stage for the strike after forming the Amazon Labor Union (ALU) and inspiring a wave of unionizations across the country. While the union was recently recognized by the NLRB, Amazon has continued its union-busting campaign by circumventing negotiations for the union’s first contract.
In the lead up to the strike, Left Voice sat down with a number of workers who reflected on the reasons why they choose to fight back against their bosses.
“The workers are the ones who make billionaires, billionaires,” said Brima Sylla, highlighting the immense profits generated by Amazon workers. Amazon is a trillion-dollar company and its profits increased by 200 percent during the Pandemic. Meanwhile, they treat their workers “like slaves,” as another worker named Eulalia explained. Sylla echoed: the company acts “like a Dracula, sucking the blood of people.”
@leftvoice“[Amazon] is acting like a Dracula, sucking the blood of people.” As workers at Amazon in Staten Island, New York geared up to take on the logistics giant, we asked workers, part of @amazonlaborunion_local1 what it was like to work in the warehouses and what this fight for a first contract meant to them. Follow us for more Amazon strike coverage!♬ original sound – Left Voice
Already, the historic strike has garnered attention for its potential to reshape the labor movement at Amazon and beyond. As Tristan Martinez emphasized, “It’s not just a struggle for Amazon workers. It’s a struggle for the working class in general.” Martinez’s words underscore the strike’s broader implications, connecting Amazon workers’ fight for a contract to a struggle that affects the entire working class, which is becoming more and more precarious due to companies like Amazon. That’s why it’s not surprising to see workers at other workplaces like Starbucks organize themselves to go on strike as well.
@leftvoice“It’s not just a struggle for Amazon workers. It’s a struggle for the working class in general.” Ahead of Amazon workers at the JFK8 fulfillment center in Staten Island, NY, we spoke with Tristan Martinez, a worker from the facility, and art of Amazon Labor Union— IBT.♬ original sound – Left Voice
Sultana Hossain, another Amazon worker, also talked about how the strike has implications that go beyond the Amazon workers themselves. “It affects wages in the communities where Amazon decides to build their warehouses.” She went on to discuss the surveillance technology that Amazon develops to surveil their workers and how Amazon uses their technology to help governments, militaries, and police departments around the world oppress people in working class communities. “In some way or another Amazon affects you.”
@leftvoice“We’re surveilled as workers. We’re surveilled in our communities. It is a struggle that we all have to take on to stop it.” As Amazon workers across the country prepared to strike for a first contract, we talked with Sultana Hossain — a worker and an officer of ALU-IBT Local 1 — about the lives and conditions of workers.♬ original sound – Left Voice
Amazon worker Ken Coates talked about the toll that working at the logistics giant takes on his life, the sacrifices it requires, and the necessity to fight for a different future. “I’m going to be honest, my job takes me away from my family on any given holiday,” but he added that, “If we allow them to treat us however they treat us now, I can only imagine the treatment that other companies are going to put their workers through in the future.” That’s why Coates believes, “We have to be the change we want to see.”
@leftvoice“We have to be the change we want to see.” In an interview with Left Voice, Amazon worker Ken Coates talks about the toll that working at the logistics giant takes on his life, the sacrifices that go behind it, and the necessity to fight for a different future.
This strike can represent a turning point in the labor movement for a new generation of workers, students, and activists who have been rising up against exploitation and oppression in recent years. It is a call to action for workers everywhere to stand in solidarity with the more precarious layers of the working class and to support Amazon workers in their struggle for their first contract which will without a doubt have implications for the entire working class.
Trump is returning to the White House with the objective of advancing the interests of bosses like Jeff Bezos. It’s increasingly important for workers to unite and fight back against the coming attacks. Independent and socialist media like Left Voice have an important role to play in amplifying the voices of workers and putting forward strategic debates that are crucial for our movements to expand. If you would like to contribute to our project, click here.