The founder and president of the Amazon Labor Union (ALU) wants workers to know his long history of dedication to Amazon and the workers, and what has brought him to be leading this campaign to build the first Amazon labor union in the country on behalf of all Amazon workers.
Dear JFK8 Associates,
For those who may not know me, my name is Chris Smalls. I am the Interim President of the Amazon Labor Union. My roots with this company are deep. For the last 7 years, my life has been affected by Amazon, whether it was positive or negative. I didn’t just wake up one day and decide to unionize.
I was hired back in 2015 at the launch of EWR9 in Carteret, NJ. I was a picker and actually enjoyed it at first, becoming one of the best in the building. Before I knew it, I was promoted to Process Assistant for the same department within the first year. I was excited to see the operations from a different perspective. My mission was set: to do a great job and become a Level 4 once I hit my two-year mark. I was there when JFK8’s current general manager, Felipe Santos, started with the company. I was also there when Zachary Marc started. I worked for him from time to time when he would request to have me assist his night shift. I considered Zach to be a friend. On March 30th of 2020, after protesting how the company handled Covid-19 in the beginning of the pandemic, he called to terminate me over the phone.
To understand why I took a stand in 2020, you have to know my story starting in 2017. That year, I packed my life up and moved 200 miles away from my friends and family to open up BDL2 in Windsor, CT. Since I had the most seniority and had trained a lot of managers, I thought the path to promotion was clear. Sadly, I was mistaken. It was one of the worst experiences I’ve had with the company. I only received one interview for L4 the entire time, and within the year I was terminated for allegedly stealing two minutes of company time. After being out of work for six weeks I was reinstated when they realized that they had made a mistake: I never stole any time, to begin with. Upon my return I was given a final written warning, preventing me from transferring as I had intended to. I had seen that JFK8 was soon to be opening so, of course, I applied, but first I had to use the Ethics Hotline to open up an investigation of my wrongful termination. After a long, drawn- out process I was granted the transfer, but denied the ability to pick my shift as I had been previously promised. After being on Front Half Days for nearly 3 years, I was forced to take a 12 hour RT shift.
In 2018 I launched JKF8 under the impression that I would have a fresh start and the opportunity to move up quickly, especially considering it was a new building. Once again, I was snubbed from the beginning. According to my manager at the time, Amazon sent an email to management before my arrival smearing my reputation and warning that I was insubordinate. Because of this email, no other managers wanted to work with me, so I was placed with him. In the end, he told me I was the best Process Assistant he had ever worked with. Years later, he supports the union, and he and I are still great friends.
Unfortunately, as many of you might have experienced, he was moved to a new site. With my only real ally gone, things took a turn for the worse. When offered, I took Back Half Days on the promise that it would increase my chances of getting an L4 interview. I had been submitting applications the entire year using Amazon’s internal website. After being PA for almost 4 years, having worked 5 peak seasons, and many prime days, you would think I had more than enough experience. By the time I was let go in 2020, I had applied to become an L4 nearly 50 times. I was only interviewed twice.
Before Covid hit, my mental health was the worst it’s ever been. I planned to take Amazon’s offer to pay Associates to resign when I reached my 5th year. When the pandemic arrived at JFK8, I was told by upper management to keep it secret from the Tier 1 workers that somebody had tested positive. At this time, in mid-March of 2020, the break rooms had no cleaning, no real social distancing guidelines, we sat close to each other, and the blue Amazon-logo masks had not been distributed. This is when Zachary Marc comes back into the picture. On March 28th, Zach, who is now the Assistant GM of JFK8, told me to “just go home.” I was told I would still be paid, and I didn’t need to worry about anything. Two days passed and they still hadn’t informed any Tier 1 workers about their exposure to the virus. I knew I couldn’t stay silent. Together with other workers, I staged a walk out to demand they address Covid-19 in the building. That day, I was fired for “violating quarantine policy.” To this day I have never received any documentation about the quarantine policy — a policy that wasn’t implemented until weeks after my firing. Even the HR reps are on record agreeing that I shouldn’t have lost my job. Believe it or not, unionizing Amazon was still not on my agenda. I just wanted to help inspire others to organize and demand Amazon do better. That same week, in a board meeting, Amazon’s former-CEO, Jeff Bezos, signed off on a smear campaign in which they would position me as the face of unionizing Amazon. He thought this would be a good idea because I was “not smart, or articulate.” He thought wrong.
I don’t have a vendetta against Amazon, they have one against me. My only intention has always been to make sure that everyone is taken care of and protected. I grew tired of seeing this company fail us. I grew tired of seeing good people come and go. Whatever you have heard about me, I’m writing this so you will know the truth. Not from the rumors Amazon spreads, but from me, firsthand. I encourage you to do your own research, just as Amazon tells you to. Better yet, come have a conversation with me. I’ve been outside of JFK8, every day, for eleven months and counting. I’m one of you still, although I no longer work inside the building. From Tier 1 to Tier 3, I know exactly how it feels. I know the good and bad days. I know the long commute on the bus from New Jersey, 3 hours each way. What else I know is that Amazon doesn’t keep its promises. Having a backbone and committing to one of their “principles” will get you terminated. Look on the walls of the warehouse and you will see “work hard, have fun, and make history.” For Amazon, that is a myth. But building the Amazon Labor Union has proven that their slogan can be true. It has been days of hard work, months of good fun, and years of making history. Look in the news, look on social media. Better yet, help us build this union and become a part of history. Amazon says to “Think Big.” Amazon has existed for 28 years in the U.S. without a union. If this isn’t thinking big, I don’t know what is.
Amazon has spent millions on millions of dollars trying to stop the ALU. It would take only a fraction of that to pay every JFK8 worker $30/hour. It is easy to see why this has not happened yet. Amazon has always put profit over people. The Amazon Labor Union has never promised anything, but I can promise you this: we will fight for you. Unlike the company, we won’t have a system that writes you up or tells you to “just call the ERC.” The Union will give us power and the right to collective bargaining. Many of you may have questions about dues. Let me clear that up: as Interim President and a former Amazon employee, I promise not one single payment of dues will be taken until we have a contract with higher wages signed. If you’re worried about experience, please know that we have had lawyers guiding and supporting us who have worked for unions with millions of members. We have filed the most charges against Amazon in history, including a national settlement that gave us the right to occupy the break rooms, as you may have seen us do. These are just a few victories we have had during our journey. Amazon wants you to “vote no,” and it’s no wonder why. We’re asking that you vote yes. Vote yes for job security. Vote for friends who were fired. Vote to scrap the system that writes you up. Vote for keeping their hands off our cell phones, for a lack of accommodations, for 1 hour lunches and 20 mins breaks. Vote to bring back monthly VCP bonuses and stocks, as my Amazon veterans might remember. All of these things are possible and affordable. You make Amazon $638 million dollars a day! It’s time we get paid our fair share. If you ask me the real reason why I am so proud to be doing this with you all, it’s simple. It is because I care, and I believe that on March 30th, 2022 we, all together, will be on the right side of history.
Solidarity Forever,
Chris Smalls
President of the Amazon Labor Union
Courtesy Amazon Labor Union
