Smalls, the unlikely union leader who took on Amazon

By AFP
|
May 02, 2022

New York: In his colorful jacket emblazoned with the slogan "Eat the rich," Christian Smalls is accosted from all sides as he walks by the bus stop where he spent countless hours trying to convince Amazon employees to form a union.

The president of the Amazon Labor Union (ALU), which caused a stir in early April by becoming the e-commerce giant’s first union in the United States, walks the sidewalk he knows so well in a New York industrial area.

He will soon learn if, after the win at the JFK8 warehouse, he has convinced employees of the sorting center located across the street, LDJ5, to unionize. The vote took place from April 25 to 29, and the counting will begin on Monday.