John,

Amazon workers at the JFK8 fulfillment center on Staten Island made history last year when they voted to form the first-ever union at an Amazon facility in America. It was a great victory, but it was also just the beginning.

Since the Amazon Labor Union won that vote, Amazon hasn’t just ramped up its union-busting behavior at other warehouses, they’ve refused to come to the table and negotiate with the union.

Amazon is one of the most profitable companies in the world -- and its profits soared during the pandemic. Amazon worker Poushawn Brown died after Amazon forced her to conduct Covid tests without providing any PPE. Instead of using its wealth to protect the workers who kept it running, Amazon treated the human beings who make it run as disposable.

The treatment of Amazon’s warehouse workers is inexcusable. Send a message to Amazon’s Board of Directors demanding they come to the bargaining table and work out a contract with the Amazon Labor Union now.

The racial stratification of Amazon workers in high-paying and low-paying wages is stark. Almost 63% of workers in Amazon warehouses and call centers are Black, Indigenous, or other people of color -- and they make around $38,000 a year. For Amazon's tech and corporate roles -- which start at $125,000 per year -- only 18% of workers are BIPOC.[1]

The warehouse workers’ demands are simple: Better pay, better benefits, and better working conditions. Amazon’s choice to spend money union-busting -- firing organizers in other warehouses and flooding workers with anti-union propaganda -- instead of bargaining in good faith, goes against the spirit of American labor law.

Whether Jeff Bezos wants to admit it or not, warehouse workers are the backbone of Amazon’s business. Without the workers, the sole reason people shop online at Amazon -- packages delivered quickly -- would be gone. Workers at Amazon -- and every other corporation -- deserve to have living wages, better working conditions, and to be treated with dignity and respect.

Join us in calling on Amazon’s Board of Directors to come to the bargaining table and work out a contract with the Amazon Labor Union.

Thank you for all you do to support working people,

Deborah Weinstein
Executive Director, Coalition on Human Needs

[1] Amazon’s workforce split sharply along the lines of race and gender, new data indicates