Tomorrow’s rally is on: We won’t back down to Amazon’s illegal intimidation

Please share our response on TikTok

Yesterday, Amazon sent a message to all KCVG workers trying to intimidate us from joining the union to fight for a $30/hr starting wage, 180 hours paid time off, and union representation at disciplinary meetings. Now, Amazon is trying to intimidate the community from supporting our union drive. 

Three hours ago they sent a letter to local unions saying anybody who’s not an Amazon worker can’t attend our rally tomorrow. They don’t want us as workers to know how much support we have. But we are saying loud and clear: Don’t be scared. We need your support. Everybody who supports our union, come out tomorrow at 4pm at the Ramp Building Parking Lot (460 Day One Dr.). Let’s rally for $30/hr and a union.

In their letter they make it clear Amazon workers CAN take part in union activity. They say “Amazon unequivocally respects the rights of its associates, protected by the National Labor Relations Act, to choose whether to be represented by a union… These rights include the right to engage in protected concerted activity” like the rally tomorrow. Meanwhile, they’re now telling employees that Amazon security will be checking every workers’ badge upon entering the parking lot. This is intimidation. This is illegal.

They say their priority is to “ensure the safety” of our coworkers. But Amazon: tell that to the KCVG workers who were working two weeks ago when the facility lost power and a blown transformer sparked a fire. At least one emergency exit was blocked, with workers screaming and crying as they were caught between two crises on the job - forced out of shelter and into the storm. Amazon management refused to let workers go home, ordering them to wait out the fire through the cold in an outdoor work area.

So what is Amazon saying with this letter? That they think our community supporters are a bigger danger to us than TORNADOS. Let that sink in.

Throughout this campaign Amazon WILL break the law and we WILL keep fighting. They have corporate lawyers and billions of dollars. We have the ability to organize with our coworkers, and the community behind us. We won’t be intimidated, and we won’t back down from fighting for $30/hr and a union.

Come out tomorrow at 4pm at the KCVG Ramp Building Parking Lot (460 Day One Drive) for our launch and rally. Go union.

I was in a union before, and they didn’t fight for us… How will a union at KCVG be any different?

We’re fighting to improve the lives of our coworkers

Some unions in recent decades have chosen to not fight nearly as hard as they should to make workers’ lives better. They instead have chosen to make unnecessary compromises to bosses and are run in a top-down fashion, without workers having a real say in the decisions of the union. Our union is going to be completely different. 

Massive, union-busting companies like Amazon are a threat to workers everywhere. They spread lies and misinformation about the union. We work hard, in dangerous conditions, and while Jeff Bezos takes off in his $500 million yacht. Amazon cares only about maximizing profits and unions are a threat to those profits. 

To be clear, having a union is always better than not having one. On average, union workers make 12% higher wages than non-union workers. Women in unionized jobs earn 23.8% more than non-union workers. Black workers earn 39.2% more.  On top of generally having higher wages, having a union gives you legal protections you don’t get in a non-union workplace.

We are a fighting, democratic union - not a “business union”

Our union is based on the traditions that built unions and the labor movement in the first place. We believe that change happens when workers organize and fight for our collective needs. We believe change happens through struggle, not mingling with the managers and bosses who exploit us.

Our union has nothing in common with the traditions of “business unionism” which happens when union leaders adapt themselves to the mentality of the bosses. Those union leaders believe they can make backroom deals with employers. Over time this causes them to identify more with what the employers' needs are rather than fight for what workers want. We are inspired by workers in unions who have taken it upon themselves to organize rank-and-file reform caucuses to transform their unions.

We are disgusted by union leaders who earn huge salaries off membership dues, while their members face low wages and brutal conditions. We are disgusted by examples of union leaders who are more comfortable in meetings with managers than they are organizing alongside workers they are supposed to represent. We find this practice abhorrent.

Special privileges have no place in our union. Dues make our union strong by giving us the resources we need to win our demands and defend us from retaliation. We vote on the amount, which will always be much lower than the raise we win in a contract. If or when we decide to hire staff or pay elected leaders, they will ALWAYS make the average wage of a worker at KCVG.

We are clear about what we are fighting for

Many business unions avoid using clear demands of the bosses, like exact wage increases, etc. Instead they stick to vague slogans like “respect and dignity” or “a seat at the table” which allows them to not be accountable or fight for what their members want. Of course, we support these general ideas, but they are so vague that Amazon can also claim they support them too. 

We have to make clear how having a union will improve our economic situation. “Respect at work” means a $30/hr starting wage, 180 hours PTO, and union representation at disciplinary meetings.

Business unions avoid using demands because their only strategy is to negotiate behind closed doors with the bosses. They are afraid if workers mobilize around clear demands, it will make it harder to cut shady deals (and they’re right). 

Some business unions might say they avoid clear demands because “they don’t want to make promises they can’t keep.” 

Demands are not promises. Demands are clear goals that we democratically decide to all fight for. They are goals that Amazon will oppose because they will hit greedy executives and shareholders where it hurts most - their profits and inflated salaries.

We do not “represent” KCVG workers - we are KCVG workers

We do not agree with the approach of business union leaders who strive to “represent” and make bad or weak deals on behalf of workers. This approach favors the boss and encourages workers to passively support the union rather than seeing themselves as essential to building the strongest possible union. It’s wrong when workers are invited to participate in the union only to vote “yes” on a bad contract every few years.

Our union is not a “third party.” Our union is the collective voice of you and your co-workers involved in this campaign. It’s Amazon who pays third-party, professional consulting firms thousands of dollars an hour to come up with misleading lies about the union. 

Management relies on gossip, rumors, and lies to divide us. We’re committed to be direct and honest about what's at stake for us as workers. We believe in internal democracy and full transparency. Workers should make decisions for themselves. That’s the kind of union we’re building, and we need your help.

It’s Firing Season at Amazon & We’re fighting Back: Rehire Edward Clarke & Alex White!

We’ve been in touch with four Planeside coworkers who were recently fired after an aircraft beacon light switched on while they were within the aircraft safety envelope preparing to pull wheel chocks away.

This is not an uncommon situation. The comms box was not working and the crew used hand signals to maintain communication with the pilot as they are trained to do but the beacon lights were switched-on early through no fault of their own.

We advised our coworkers on the appeals process and as of this week three of them have gotten their jobs back after appealing their termination to site leadership.

Alex White received an email on 2/8 stating that his employment termination has been upheld after site leadership determined that “all policies were applied properly and consistently in this case”. 

Amazon’s appeals process is inconsistent and illegitimate. Alex and his coworkers were simply standing in the wrong place at the wrong time. There is no justification for Alex not to be rehired along with the others.

Meanwhile, site leadership has dragged out Edward Clarke’s appeal for over a month, finally setting a date this week for his appeal hearing. For four weeks, Amazon’s spokesperson in Washington, DC has issued declarations claiming that Edward was not terminated for his organizing and outspoken support for a union at KCVG. Amazon is clearly delaying Edward’s appeal in order to build a case to attack his character and justify his termination.

In reality, none of us have job security at Amazon without a union. Management and site leadership are able to selectively enforce work rules and deny or accept appeals arbitrarily. With a union, we will have “just cause” requirements for termination and clear standards for discipline decided by those of us who actually do the work at KCVG, not management. 

We demand that Alex White and Edward Clarke are immediately rehired. We will take action in the coming weeks to build organized support against unfair terminations, retaliation and favoritism.

Amazon: No More Retaliation or Favoritism - Rehire Edward Clarke Now!

Last November, we launched a campaign at the Amazon KCVG Air Hub in the Cincinnati / Northern Kentucky region to win a $30/hr starting wage, 180 hours paid time off, and a union. Since then, hundreds of our coworkers have taken the union pledge and become involved in the campaign.

Amazon is fighting back. Edward Clarke, a Load Planner at the Amazon KCVG Air Hub was singled out by Senior Leadership and fired on January 17 for standing up against bullying and mismanagement of our workplace.

Edward is always a reliable coworker. He makes sure Amazon’s flights depart on-time, safely, while always going out of his way to see that everyone in his work area gets their breaks and has what they need to do their job safely. Edward’s commitment to his coworkers often puts him at odds with management who fired him on an insignificant technicality that posed no harm to anyone. The real reason they fired him is because he dares to stand up for his coworkers and has committed his time to fighting for a union.

The bogus reasons given by Site Leadership for Edward’s termination are:

1. Leaving his workstation computer unlocked while periodically stepping away to perform job duties.

2. Allowing a Tier 1 Associate — who Edward worked with regularly — to scan freight cans into the load planning software. Amazon was so desperate for any excuse, they categorized these infractions as Category 1 offenses despite the fact that their own written policy does not support their claims.

In reality, Edward was fired because he is not a “yes man” who uncritically accepts Site Leadership’s mismanagement, bullying, and favoritism. He isn’t afraid to stand up to managers when they cut corners and treat us unfairly. He isn’t afraid to publicly support the union drive. He isn’t afraid to encourage his coworkers to do the same because he knows that we need a union to have real job security with “just cause” standards against discipline. 

Amazon’s bullying and selective enforcement of workplace rules and policies are what led many of us to get involved in this union drive in the first place. Of course, Edward is appealing his firing, filing charges with the National Labor Relations Board, and preparing a legal defense. However, these institutions are far from reliable allies to Amazon workers, and it’s on us to get organized and fight for a union that can win lasting gains.

We’re fed up with the toxic work environment at KCVG that management maintains by dividing us, bullying us, and intimidating us, which is why we’re calling for union representation at every disciplinary meeting. We were outraged when Amazon took away our holiday Peak Pay, which is why we’re calling for a $30/hr starting wage. We are working to live, not living to work, which is why we’re calling for a 180 hours PTO. 

What happened to Edward is part of Amazon’s overall strategy for busting any attempt by Amazon’s employees to form a union. They won’t play nice, and they won’t play fair. At the JFK8 warehouse on Staten Island, Amazon did everything they could to turn workers against the union. Even after Amazon lost a fair election, their lawyers tried to overturn the results through the National Labor Relations Board and the courts until the company was forced to recognize the Amazon Labor Union.

Amazon has also been retaliating against as many pro-union workers as possible at JFK8. In some cases, they suspended whole groups of workers who stood up against dangerous conditions at work. Amazon’s goal is to scare workers away from fighting for a union contract. This is why workers need to stick together to win a union at KCVG and at Amazon facilities across the US. 

The only thing bullies understand is power, and Amazon workers have the power to hit Amazon where it hurts the most: their profits. Without us, the airplanes don’t get loaded, the boxes don’t get sorted and the packages don’t get delivered. Without us, Jeff Bezos and Amazon’s major shareholders don’t make a dime.

Like Edward says “Amazon only works because we do”.

This is why we are getting organized at the hub to demand Amazon rehire Edward Clarke immediately, and to fight for the lasting protections that only come with a union.

To start, we are asking our coworkers to wear red for Ed this week to show management that we stand with our coworkers. We will also be distributing buttons at work and will announce meetings in the next few days to discuss other ways to increase the pressure on management to reinstate Edward.

We will also immediately begin paying Edward his regular weekly income from his position at KCVG for the duration of his appeal.

We will mobilize our support in the labor movement locally and nationally to defend our co-workers against retaliation and win a union at KCVG. Already, union pilots fly Amazon’s airplanes, and union ironworkers and electricians build their facilities. We are asking for their help to raise money for Edward’s legal defense, mobilize their members to public demonstrations, and pledging not to cross a picket line. We also need active support and solidarity from unionized workers at UPS and the USPS who handle a third of Amazon’s deliveries nationwide.

An injury to one of us is an injury to all of us. We’re forming a strong, democratic, fighting union, and we will take action now. We won’t stand by and let Amazon bully our coworkers. We know that if we don't stand up to Amazon’s bullying tactics now, it will only get worse. They will keep looking for any opportunity to single out union supporters, and anyone who dares to stand up to management. This is why we’re demanding Amazon reverse its decision to unjustifiably fire Edward Clarke.