Chris Smalls is Big News for Justice

Have you heard the name Chris Smalls in the media the last few days?

If not, you should, because he is Big News.

He organized and just got the first ever amazon union passed.

After he was fired from the billion dollar corporation for speaking up and protesting and after they attempted to smear and stop him.

Chris began speaking out in March 2020, when he was an Amazon employee. He helped lead a walkout over safety conditions for his colleagues at the start of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Naturally, Smalls was fired after the event, with Amazon claiming the move was because he violated social distancing guidelines and attended the demonstration while he was supposed to be in quarantine.

After he was fired, Smalls formed the Amazon Labor Union, which is not backed by any national union organization.  He said he has spent much of the last year outside the JFK8 warehouse in New York, handing out food to workers and collecting signatures for the union. He also traveled across the country to rally essential workers after he was fired, including calling for a boycott of Amazon Prime Day, among other measures.

Amazon has tried to stop him, in addition to being fired, Amazon also had a strategy to smear him, according to leaked notes from an Amazon company meeting acquired by Vice News.  

The notes were circulated in a memo within Amazon. The memo said in response to regulatory or media inquiry about Smalls “we should spend the first part of our response strongly laying out the case for why the organizer’s conduct was immoral, unacceptable, and arguably illegal, in detail, and only then follow with our usual talking points about worker safety." 

“He’s not smart, or articulate, and to the extent the press wants to focus on us versus him, we will be in a much stronger PR position than simply explaining for the umpteenth time how we’re trying to protect workers,” the memo, which was reportedly forwarded within Amazon by the company’s general counsel David Zapolsky, says.  

In February, police officers arrested Smalls after Amazon employees alleged he was trespassing while delivering food to other employees. Police also arrested two current Amazon employees.

Naturally, Amazon is not happy with this new outcome, saying, “We’re disappointed with the outcome of the election in Staten Island because we believe having a direct relationship with the company is best for our employees.”

We are in awe of Chris and his willingness to go against Amazon. We support him and all workers who deserve better. We need more folks with the desire to speak up, organize and bring justice home.

Congratulations on this important step.

(Details found https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2022/04/02/chris-smalls-amazon-union-organizer/7250923001/)