Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
On the Clock is Motherboard's reporting on the organized labor movement, gig work, automation, and the future of work.
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Amazon Labor Union says it will fight for a $30-an-hour wage for workers, the right to union representation in disciplinary hearings, and longer breaks. Julian “Mitch” Israel, an Amazon warehouse worker at LDJ5 and ALU’s field director, told Motherboard that following the victory at JFK8, the union needed to “play catch-up a little bit” at LDJ5. “The win at JFK8 boosted us up at LDJ5, but at the same time, Amazon had planted a deep anti-union seed in a lot of workers at LDJ5,” Israel said shortly before voting began. In the weeks leading up to the vote at LDJ5, organizers camped out in the break room and outside the warehouse at tables with union literature, food, and ALU T-shirts, playing Soka and R&B on a portable speaker. “We matched the food with the music,” said Israel. “Most days, we were out there from 6 a.m. to the following 2 a.m.”One major concern among workers at LDJ5 is getting full-time status and hours. Michael Aguilar, a 22-year-old LDJ5 warehouse worker who’s been at Amazon off and on since 2019, said his desire to secure full-time status in part prompted him to organize his co-workers at LDJ5 to vote for the union. “I’m part-time and tried to apply for full-time, and Amazon denied me because there were so many new hires,” he said. “I’ve talked to a lot of part-timers and they’re all angry that they couldn’t become full-time as well.”