Why unions are making a resurgence in the US

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The decision by workers at an Amazon warehouse in New York to join a union, announced earlier this month, was greeted not only as a first-of-its-kind victory for workers at the company, but also as an event of historic significance within the labor movement in the United States. U.S.

Amazon, founded in 1994, is the country’s second-largest private employer and resists unionizing its employees. In the past, even large unions with decades of experience and millions of dollars at their disposal had failed in similar campaigns in other units of the company.

But in an April 1 vote, employees at JFK8, a massive Amazon warehouse with more than 8,000 employees located on Staten Island, New York City, approved unionization. In the election, 2,654 voted in favor of being represented by a workers’ union, and another 2,131 voted against.

This successful initiative was different from other such efforts, which often employ professional organizers. The New York campaign was spearheaded by the warehouse’s own employees, with limited resources raised through a crowdfunding website.

“It’s probably the most important union victory (in the country) in almost a hundred years,” Professor John Logan, director of the Department of Labor and Employment studies at San Francisco State University in California, tells BBC News Brazil.

The favorable result at Amazon follows a similar series of victories at the Starbucks coffee shop chain and other smaller companies in the United States.

Last week, employees at six Starbucks locations in New York State voted to unionize, bringing to 16 the number of Starbucks stores in the country where such initiatives have been successful. Workers and organizers at at least 180 other Starbucks locations in 29 states have already filed petitions to advance unionization.

These initiatives, although relevant, represent a tiny portion of the total number of workers in the country. Starbucks alone has more than 9,000 stores in the United States. Amazon’s warehouse in New York has a large number of employees, but it’s still tiny given the size of the company, which has more than 1.5 million employees around the world.

But despite their limited reach, many hope that these recent successes, led by a new generation of young workers, can help revitalize the American labor movement, which has gained renewed interest after decades of decline.

According to a Gallup poll from last September, 68% of Americans approve of unions, the highest percentage since 1965. Among respondents who identify as Democrats, approval is even higher, reaching 90%.

“There’s certainly a degree of optimism, energy and enthusiasm in some parts of the labor movement that we haven’t seen in decades,” says Logan, who specializes in the history of US labor movements.

But the professor points out that this enthusiasm is not yet reflected in the numbers. The percentage of workers represented by unions has been falling gradually in the country since the 1980s, when it was around 20%. According to the Pew Research Center, last year only 10.3% of employees in the country belonged to a union.

“It will take an extraordinary effort to reverse this decline,” says Logan. “If we think in terms of numbers, [as vitórias recentes] are a drop in the ocean.”

Pandemic and tight job market

Logan and other experts note that the recent results were made possible by a combination of factors that make this a peculiar time in the US job market, with high demand for employees.

After two years of the pandemic, many workers are tired of receiving wages that do not keep up with inflation while large companies record record profits.

“Two years ago, a victory like this [na Amazon] it would be unthinkable. But we are in a different moment, with a completely changed labor scenario”, highlights Logan.

“After working for two years during the pandemic and feeling that they were not adequately rewarded or treated with respect, many workers are receptive to the union’s message in a way that, two years ago, they could not have imagined being successful.”

The union victories also take place in a more favorable political scenario than a few years ago. Joe Biden is considered the most pro-union US president in decades, and since taking office in January 2021, he has rolled back laws passed under the previous administration that critics say weakened labor protections.

Last year, Biden had already expressed support for an attempt to unionize employees at another Amazon warehouse in Alabama, in an effort that ultimately failed. Last week, at an event with labor leaders in Washington, the president cited the result at the company’s New York unit.

“Trade unions represent, in my opinion, dignity and respect for people who work hard,” Biden said, promoting a task force created by his government “to ensure that the decision to join a union belongs only to workers.”

“And by the way, Amazon, here we go,” Biden said, to applause.

Following the remarks, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki clarified that the president was not sending a message that the administration would formally engage in these efforts, but simply expressing his support for “the right of workers to organize.”

Effort came from fired employee

While significant, the recent victory by Amazon employees is limited and represents only the first step in a long process until the new union can negotiate a contract with better pay and working conditions. The company has already formally objected to the result of the vote.

“We are disappointed with the Staten Island election result because we believe that having a direct relationship with the company is better for our employees,” Amazon said in a statement.

But many hope the successful strategy can serve as a new model and inspiration for other campaigns across the country.

Such initiatives are traditionally led by professional organizers linked to large established unions, which offer legal and financial support and resources.

At Amazon in New York, however, the effort came from an employee of the warehouse itself, Christian Smalls, who had been fired after organizing a protest against safety conditions during the pandemic, considered inadequate by workers.

Smalls teamed up with a colleague, Derrick Palmer, and other employees and managed to raise about $120,000 on the crowdfunding site GoFundMe. As a comparison, the American press estimates that Amazon spent more than $4 million (about R$18 million) on anti-union consultants last year.

The funds raised by Smalls and Palmer were invested in a campaign that included videos on TikTok and barbecues in front of the warehouse, in direct contact with the unit’s employees at breaks and after work. This proximity is a differential that professional organizers in these situations do not have.

“They didn’t have experienced organizers or lawyers. They got outside advice, but the campaign was basically organized by people who worked in the warehouse,” Logan points out.

“They were very dedicated. They are much younger (in their 30s) than the average age of workers in the warehouse, but they are very respected”, observes Logan. “And they could say, ‘We’re just like you, we know what it’s like to work in this warehouse and be treated with a lack of respect’.”

This independent campaign ended up achieving a feat considered impossible against a conglomerate like Amazon. The National Council on Labor Relations, an independent US government agency, has said in the past that Amazon interfered with several unionization efforts, something the company denies.

“What makes this victory truly extraordinary is that Amazon is probably the richest, most powerful and most sophisticated anti-union company on the planet,” notes Logan. “It’s harder to win an election by unionizing at Amazon than at any other company.”

Impact on the labor movement

According to Smalls, the new union has already been approached by employees at 50 other units in the United States, as well as others abroad. Later this month, employees at a second Amazon warehouse in Staten Island will also vote on a unionization proposal.

Observers say that, even without taking the lead in such initiatives, large traditional unions can offer logistical, legal and financial support at various stages of the process, in a kind of hybrid model.

The effort at Amazon received help from members of established unions, despite being led by workers. At Starbucks, there is more formal support from Workers United, part of the Service Employees International Union, a 100-year-old union that represents nearly 2 million workers in the United States and Canada.

In both cases, however, the work of gaining more supporters was done by the employees themselves, many of them young, in direct interactions with colleagues and efforts via Zoom, email, social media and text messages.

“The traditional labor movement needs to find a way to encourage and facilitate this kind of self-organization that has been so successful at Amazon and Starbucks,” says Logan.

It is too early to know whether the optimism generated by recent victories will have a greater impact on the American labor movement.

“But what’s important is the energy, enthusiasm and ability of these campaigns to capture the public imagination,” believes Logan.

“And it’s those kind of dynamics that will be needed if we’re going to have a chance to rebuild the union movement in the United States in a meaningful way.”

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