BROOKLYN (CN) — Several dozen members of the United States' only Amazon employee union say its leaders have commandeered the organization and suppressed dissenters, and asked a federal court on Monday to set dates and rules for a new executive board election.
Chris Smalls, Amazon Labor Union’s first and current president, became the face of the movement after Amazon disciplined him for speaking up about lacking Covid-19 protocols, leading the union to its historic formation in April of 2022. The success earned Smalls a mini-celebrity status, including a spot at a White House meeting with union leaders.
But a faction of the union says that within the ALU, Smalls fostered an environment that became a far cry from the champagne-popping camaraderie on display at the victorious vote count in downtown Brooklyn.
“What defendant Smalls and his paid, hand-picked ‘executive board’ is engaged in is no less than the hijacking of a rather unique institution, the ALU, which has been able to raise almost a million dollars in the past year because of the notoriety created by its win at an Amazon warehouse,” the group of union members state in the 22-page complaint filed in the Eastern District of New York.
“They refuse to hold membership meetings, they have unilaterally ‘amended’ the constitution to keep themselves in power indefinitely, they have threatened their opponents, most of whom made up the core group which won the Amazon election in the first place, and, most importantly, they refuse all efforts to have a fair, democratic, election.”
Tensions apparently rose in early October 2022, when over 100 workers were suspended with pay after participating in a work stoppage. Smalls, the group alleges, went on vacation instead of attending a meeting with the suspended employees. Some members also took issue with how Smalls worked with a union effort in San Marino, California, saying his approach lacked planning and organization.
“When people blindly sign cards without understanding the benefits of unionizing, they quickly become anti-union when the company launches their anti-union campaign,” the union members say.
In the months that followed, several executive board members resigned after complaining that leaders weren’t following the union’s constitution, and in December, the group says, Smalls presented a new constitution and said it would be enacted without a vote. The plaintiffs in the case launched a reform effort, participating in which got them banned from regularly scheduled workers meetings.
The dissenting group argues that the current executive board isn’t in any position to hold a new, fair election.
“Unless this court intervenes, an election will not be held, and no one within the squabbling executive board is capable of conducting a fair and democratic election,” they say.
The group asks the court to set dates and make rulings about who can vote and who will be eligible to run — for half a dozen executive board positions, including president and vice president — as well as certify the election when it occurs, citing an August 30 deadline.
An attorney for the Amazon Labor Union did not return a request for comment, nor did Smalls.
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