Pizza, DMs, and Solidarity: Filming the Amazon Labor Fight

Building Local Power

In March, 2020, Amazon warehouse worker Chris Smalls led a walkout protesting a lack of Covid-19 safety measures at the JFK8 warehouse in Staten Island. He was fired two hours later. In the following days, a leaked memo revealed that the Amazon c-suite (including Jeff Bezos) was planning to discredit Smalls by racially scapegoating him. When aspiring documentarian Mars Verrone heard the story, they sent an Instagram DM to Smalls asking about the prospect of turning his story into a movie. Now, three years later, that movie is here: the acclaimed new documentary Union, which chronicles Smalls' successful efforts to unionize JFK8. For this episode of Building Local Power, Verrone joins us to share the story of Union's creation, as well as the challenges distributing a film like this. They also provide insights into the role that race plays in the story of Chris Smalls and the labor struggle in general. This lively and memorable conversation is the second in our series of episodes about race and monopoly power. For the full transcript and related resources, visit ilsr.org: https://ilsr.org/articles/filming-the-amazon-labor-fight