Amazon warehouses aren’t just unionizing—they’re upending labor organizing in the process

There's a major shift toward worker-led unions that aren't affiliated with any of the large national organizations that still dominate union membership in the US.

An Amazon warehouse outside Albany, New York, is looking to organize with the independent Amazon Labor Union (ALU), highlighting a major shift toward worker-led unions that aren’t affiliated with the large national organizations that still dominate union membership in the US.

It’s the third union campaign to be backed by the ALU, whose president, Christian Smalls, was fired by Amazon in March 2020 after he led a walkout demanding protections from the then-raging pandemic. That led to the ALU’s founding last year by him, other former Amazon employees, and warehouse staff. In April, the ALU successfully organized workers in Staten Island, New York, into the first unionized Amazon warehouse. It’s still the only successful example of unionizing Amazon.

Now organizers at the Albany-area warehouse are collecting signatures from their fellow employees at ALB1 Fulfillment Center, where they estimate about 400 workers are eligible to join the union. The union campaign is underway with an upcoming rally on July 17 in Albany’s Washington Park, as well as a website for donations.

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