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On Friday, April 1, Amazon workers in Staten Island, a suburb of New York won a historic victory. They voted for the creation of a union. A first for the American giant. This Friday, they celebrated their victory and promised to continue the movement.
With our correspondent in New York, Loubna Anaki
« While Jeff Bezos was in space, we were here prepping the union! “. In the middle of the group of workers, a few steps from the Amazon warehouse in Staten Island, Christian Smalls does not hide his happiness… It was he, two years ago, who started the movement for the creation of the union, the ” Amazon Labor Union” (ALU) which he now chairs. ” It was Amazon against the people, and the people decided. And he wants a union! “, harangues the employee in a megaphone.
This is the first time in the United States that workers have succeeded in creating a union. An initiative viewed with suspicion by the management of Amazon, which campaigned against it. ” It doesn’t matter how much money they spend because they neglect the human. And that’s what allowed us to win! “adds Chris Small. A colleague takes over: Unions built this country. We have to make them understand! We’re tired of Amazon and its lies! »
The Amazon union has announced that it will fight for better wages and working conditions for the 8,000 workers at the Staten Island warehouse. They also promise to frame other sites to help them do the same.
An appeal filed
The battle is not over in New York: Amazon plans to file an appeal with the regulator, with several objections, specifies AFP. The company believes in particular that the ALU has ” threatened employees to force them to vote yes” and “campaigned with employees in line to vote ”, according to official documents filed Thursday with the federal agency responsible for labor law (NLRB).
This union’s historic victory is already inspiring other workers far beyond Amazon. On Friday, April 8, three more Starbucks came out in favor of unionization, for a total of 16 in the country.
► Read also : United States: employees vote in favor of the creation of a first union at Starbucks
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