Inspired By Bernie And BLM’s Pro-Union Talk, Unconventional Organizing Catches On

This article is part of TPM Cafe, TPM’s home for opinion and news analysis. It first appeared at The Conversation.

April 1, 2022, may go down as a pivotal day in the history of American unions.

In a result that could reverberate in workplaces across the U.S., the independent Amazon Labor Union – first formed in 2020 by Chris Smalls, an Amazon worker fired for protesting what he saw as inadequate COVID-19 safety precautions – got the better of the previously successful anti-union efforts of the online retailer. It means that Smalls’ warehouse in Staten Island, New York, will be the first to have a unionized workforce.