The tentacles of the global logistics juggernaut Amazon reach into every corner of the economy, gripping the planet and workers. Amazon dominates retail e-commerce with a 40 percent market share. It is making major inroads into health care (One Medical), grocery (Whole Foods), Hollywood (Amazon Studios MGM), information technology (Amazon Web Services), and artificial intelligence.
Amazon’s operations are full of flash points for potential resistance. Its warehouses are rife with safety violations and record injury rates. Its web services collaborate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, facilitating the Trump administration’s assault on workers and rights.
Its stranglehold includes sectors where workers have major leverage because they are key to the economy. Take international transport, where Amazon is now a Non-Vessel Operating Common Carrier, meaning it provides shipping services for customers without owning any ships. There has even been speculation that Amazon might seek to operate the Port of Pittsburg, California — upriver from Oakland — to bypass the power of the dockworkers in the Oakland Bay Area, and eventually have its own fleet of ships.
The stakes are high for US labor. If we are going to remain relevant, unions must meet the challenge of building worker power at such a behemoth by making Amazon organizing a project of the entire labor movement. It will require bold initiatives and an ecumenical approach. Organizing Amazon is our do-or-die test.
As Amazon continues to spread into new markets, it is a threat to labor standards that many unions have achieved in their jurisdictions. These unions have a self-interest in supporting a broad campaign to protect their existing contract standards by improving conditions for Amazon workers.
For an organizing strategy to succeed, it has to locate Amazon’s vulnerabilities. We believe that these vulnerabilities exist primarily in metropolitan areas, where there are huge markets and…
Auteur: Peter Olney
