ON Black Friday, 2022, Amazon workers went on strike over brutal working conditions in 30 countries across the world. Saint Louis’s Amazon Fulfilment Centre 8 would not be left out.

Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, is the US’s largest shopping day of the year. It has been so for decades, generally marking the unofficial first day of holiday shopping.

However, in recent years Black Friday sales have begun earlier and earlier in the morning. Ten years ago, it was not uncommon to see queues of shoppers waiting mirthfully in the cold outside of retailers at 2am, hoping for a chance to buy one of five TV sets on sale for half price.

In the years since the retailers have gradually adjusted their hours to ensure they are first to open. In the US spirit of consumerism, Black Friday sales began being extended all the way through the following weekend and beyond.

During all this hype, fanfare, and the added activity during the holiday season, little attention has been given to those who make Black Friday happen – the service workers.

It was when Black Friday hours stretched far enough to begin on the evening of Thanksgiving itself that the level of criticism began to rise to the point where they had to be listened to.

Workers that unload the trucks, receive goods, drive the forklifts, stock the shelves, work the register, help with make-up, answer questions, process warranties, de-escalate conflicts, collect carts, straighten merchandise, unlock secured goods, and clean the aisles have been expected to work mandatory overtime and even sacrifice their own holiday time with family for a day of consumerist bedlam.

The lockdowns associated with Covid-19 collectively gave workers time to consider their own working conditions and work/life balance.

Capitalism itself has been reconsidered by millions of US workers.

As a result, they have shown a new enthusiasm for unionising, refusal to accept substandard wages and conditions, and a willingness to go on strike.

Starbucks had zero unionised branches in 2020, and now more than 250 branches have union recognition.

Fast food chains changed their narrative from “$15 per hour is impossible” in 2020 to advertising “$15 per hour and paid today” in less than two years.

Railroad workers have voted to strike, shutting down a third of all freight of retail goods less than three weeks before Christmas.

Online retail giants like Amazon recorded incredible growth and profits during the Covid-19 lockdowns, yet Amazon has doubled down on union-busting and ignoring workers’ complaints.

Thirty minutes before the afternoon shift change on Black Friday, about 200 workers and members of the local community arrived outside the massive Amazon facility in Saint Peters, Missouri, and started warming up.

Amazon employs an astounding 1.5 million workers worldwide, of which around two-thirds are employed in the US.

The crowd that showed up to support Amazon workers included members of unions like the Glazers, Painters and Allied Trades, Pipefitters, Teamsters, United Sheetmetal Workers, CWA, UFCW, SEIU, machinists, and retirees from the Operating Engineers and the Insulators unions. The president of UAW Local 2250 was there.

The time for shift change is upon the crowd. At that point, dozens of Amazon employees walked off the job and joined in with the cheering and smiling workers outside. Some even took the bullhorns and led the chants. The atmosphere was jubilant. Handshakes and hugs were exchanged. Energy was high.

An hour after supporters first arrived, Amazon sent out its representative to clear away the elated gathering. He repeated, in a barely audible voice, that those without an ID badge needed to leave. One attendee supporting the workers told the man that she was sorry for Amazon putting him in such a position.

The exchange highlighted one of Amazon employees’ collective complaints about workers’ security. There simply is no sufficient security staff to protect the workers inside, should an actual malicious trespasser make their way in.

Warehouse workers’ unions are not new. The ILWU (The International Longshore and Warehouse Union), famous for refusing to load scrap iron being sold to Japan during WWII for the empire’s war effort, organised warehouse workers as far back as 1937. In Saint Louis, the Teamsters Local 688 unionised warehouses half a century ago. So, how is Amazon different?

Worker turnover at Amazon is extremely high. Its employment methods are designed to keep seniority at low levels. Signing onto work at a fulfilment centre means entering into an agreement to work mandatory 50-hour weeks.

After two years, Amazon will begin to offer payoffs to workers to get them to resign. It also relies heavily on seasonal workers and arguably makes its relationship with seasonal workers the standard for all employees. 

Visibly, Amazon’s plan is to keep workers miserable and uninvested, in hopes that they quit before long because it is historically workers with seniority and vested interest in the company that organise unions.

Unionising is a threat to Amazon’s employment model of turnover.

Workers who have entered into a bargaining agreement with an employer generally cannot be disciplined or have their contracts terminated without just cause. A union contract means a grievance procedure, which means job security, workforce stability, and ultimately a massive eventual boost to seniority among the workforce.

Workers who have never been on strike, or possibly never been a union member, might not understand how non-union workers can call a strike. The National Labour Relations Act (1935) legalises workers’ greatest weapon: the strike.

Workers do not actually need union recognition to strike, but it definitely helps.

Existing unions have experience with filing an Unfair Labour Practice (ULP) with the National Relations Board that provides great protection from employer retaliation. The Act allows workers to strike; however, if the stated reasons are economic, the employer retains the right to try to replace the striking workers.

What made the Fight For $15 campaigns so dramatic and effective was the use of the ULP strike. Fast food workers walking off the job for a day caused major disruption and financial hardship, but the employers were unable to make a legitimate case for replacement.

Starbucks workers, represented mostly by the Workers United Labour Union, have been using strikes to great effect against the corporation which has been refusing to bargain in good faith by delaying negotiations.

If you read the comments in any coverage of campaigns to organise Amazon workers, you might see some misguided advice like “go to school” or “get a good union job.” Warehouse positions have become “Mcjobs” in recent years as online shopping has exploded in popularity.

The public perception is that “robots do all the work,” and subsequently the labour becomes devalued. In reality, shipping/receiving/delivery is exceptionally fast-paced and labour-intensive.

A century ago, manufacturing jobs were misperceived as “unskilled,” yet those workers organised to become the United Auto Workers.

The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) began with janitorial staff and “soda jerkers” in drug stores in the 1930s, then swelled with healthcare workers to become one of the largest trade unions.

Migratory workers in California formed the legendary underdog United Farm Workers (UFW) organised popular boycotts and successful international work stoppages. All of these unions mentioned, and countless others began as groups of workers that lacked respect from the public at large.

The organising committee of Amazon Fulfilment Centre 8 is known as “STL8.” It has not been made public whether the STL8 wish to become part of the Teamsters, UAW, Machinists, or whether they will become an independent union like the Amazon Labour Union of Staten Island’s JFK8.

Regardless, these workers need all the possible support from their fellow workers to succeed. When they do succeed, society will be better for it.

This is an edited version of an article that was first published at peoplesworld.org.