A behind-the-scenes look at the lead-up to the historic vote in Staten Island, establishing the first union for Amazon workers:
When he first emerged as a leader of the 2020 COVID safety protests, Amazon management attempted to use his street-casual demeanor as a way to discredit him.
In a leaked memo of a meeting, Amazon executives, including CEO Jeff Bezos, said [Christian] Smalls was “not smart, or articulate,” and sought to create a media narrative around Smalls to make him “the face of the entire union/organizing movement.”
The memo sparked something in Smalls, who in reality is soft spoken and meticulous about his words.
“Ironically, he said to make me the face of the whole unionizing effort, so I said, ‘OK, that’s a good idea.’”
