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| Formation | May 1, 2020 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Chris Smalls, Gerald Bryson, Jordan Flowers and Derrick Palmer |
| Leader | Chris Smalls |
| Website | tcoew |
The Congress of Essential Workers is an American labour organization co-founded by Chris Smalls in 2020. It has campaigned to raise Amazon's minimum wage.
The Congress of Essential Workers was launched as the COVID19 pandemic reached the United States, on May 1 2020. [1] [2] The founders were all current or recent Amazon employees Chris Smalls, Gerald Bryson, Jordan Flowers and Derrick Palmer. [1] The organisation was created to advocate for essential workers, with special focus on those who were the subject of employer retaliatory actions and those who needed funds to pursue civil rights complaints. [3]
The group was worried about COVID-19 infection risks, and were part of a larger group that has walked out of the New York factory known as JFK8 where they were employed on March 30, 2020. [1] Smalls' employment had been terminated shortly after the walkout. [1] Initially the group were not in favour of formal unions, until April 2021, when the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union failed to organize a union amongst Amazon workers in Bessemer, Alabama. [1]
The congress is led by Chris Smalls [4] who was fired by Amazon shortly after organising a walk-out of the Amazon warehouse where he worked. The group called on Amazon to raise the minimum wage from $15 per hour to $30 per hour. [5] The work that the Congress of Essential Workers started, led to the development of the Amazon Labor Union. [6]
The Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) is a congressional caucus affiliated with the Democratic Party in the United States Congress. The CPC represents the most left-leaning faction of the Democratic Party. It was founded in 1991 and has grown since then.
The National Retail Federation (NRF) is the world's largest retail trade association. Its members include department stores, specialty, discount, catalog, Internet, and independent retailers, chain restaurants, grocery stores, and multi-level marketing companies. Members also include businesses that provide goods and services to retailers, such as vendors and technology providers. NRF represents the largest private-sector industry in the United States that contains over 3.8 million retail establishments, supporting more than 52 million employees contributing $2.6 trillion annually to GDP.
The minimum wage in the United States of America is set by U.S. labor law and a range of state and local laws. The first federal minimum wage was instituted in the National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933, signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, but later found to be unconstitutional. In 1938 the Fair Labor Standards Act established it at $0.25 an hour. Its purchasing power peaked in 1968, at $1.60. Since 2009, it has been $7.25 per hour.
Amazon.com has drawn criticism from multiple sources, where the ethics of certain business practices and policies have been drawn into question. Amazon has faced numerous allegations of anti-competitive or monopolistic behavior, as well as criticisms of their treatment of workers and consumers. Concerns have frequently been raised regarding the availability or unavailability of products and services on Amazon platforms, as Amazon is considered a monopoly due to its size.
The tipped wage is base wage paid to an employee in the United States who receives a substantial portion of their compensation from tips. According to a common labor law provision referred to as a "tip credit", the employee must earn at least the state's minimum wage when tips and wages are combined or the employer is required to increase the wage to fulfill that threshold. This ensures that all tipped employees earn at least the minimum wage: significantly more than the tipped minimum wage.
The Fight for $15 is an American political movement advocating for the minimum wage to be raised to USD$15 per hour. The federal minimum wage was last set at $7.25 per hour in 2009. The movement has involved strikes by child care, home healthcare, airport, gas station, convenience store, and fast food workers for increased wages and the right to form a labor union. The "Fight for $15" movement started in 2012, in response to workers' inability to cover their costs on such a low salary, as well as the stressful work conditions of many of the service jobs which pay the minimum wage.
Instacart is an American company that operates a grocery delivery and pick-up service in the United States and Canada. The company offers its services via a website and mobile app. The service allows customers to order groceries from participating retailers with the shopping being done by a personal shopper.
United Voices of the World (UVW) is an independent grassroots trade union, established in London in 2014.
Amazon.com, Inc. is an American multinational technology company which focuses on e-commerce, cloud computing, and digital streaming. It has been referred to as "one of the most influential economic and cultural forces in the world", and is one of the world's most valuable brands.
The COVID-19 pandemic in Malta is part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. The first case of the disease in Malta was an Italian 12-year-old girl on 7 March 2020. The girl and her family were in isolation, as required by those following the Maltese health authority's guidelines who were in Italy or other highly infected countries. Later, both her parents were found positive as well.
Strikes occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic due to many factors including: hazard pay or low pay, unsafe working conditions, inability to pay rent. These strikes are separate from the various protests that occurred over responses to the pandemic.
Christian Smalls is an American labor organizer known for his role in leading Amazon worker organization in Staten Island, a borough in New York City. He is the president and founder of the Amazon Labor Union (ALU) since 2021.
Some warehouse workers of Amazon, the largest American e-commerce retailer with 750,000 employees, have organized for workplace improvements in light of the company's scrutinized labor practices and stance against unions. Worker actions have included work stoppages and have won concessions including increased pay, safety precautions, and time off. There are unionized Amazon workers in both the United States and Europe.
The Strike for Black Lives was a mass walkout that occurred throughout the United States on July 20, 2020. Occurring during the George Floyd protests, the main goals of the strike were to draw attention to systemic racism and racial inequality in the United States, with additional goals including a raising of the minimum wage in the United States, stronger protections for unionizing, and expanded healthcare.
Alexander Jacob Lasry is an American businessperson and executive of the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Lasry was a Democratic candidate in the 2022 United States Senate election in Wisconsin, but withdrew before the primary. He is the son of Milwaukee Bucks co-owner Marc Lasry.
The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, also called the COVID-19 Stimulus Package or American Rescue Plan, is a US$1.9 trillion economic stimulus bill passed by the 117th United States Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden on March 11, 2021, to speed up the country's recovery from the economic and health effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing recession. First proposed on January 14, 2021, the package builds upon many of the measures in the CARES Act from March 2020 and in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, from December.
The Amazon Labor Union (ALU) is an independent labor union specifically for Amazon workers, created on April 20, 2021. On April 1, 2022, the Amazon workers at a warehouse in Staten Island, JFK8, backed by the ALU became the first unionized Amazon workers recognized by the National Labor Relations Board.
Workers at Recreational Equipment, Inc. (REI), an American retail and outdoor recreation services corporation, have one recognized trade union. The company has faced accusations of being anti-union. In 2016, REI workers went public with organization efforts that had been growing over concerns about wages and working conditions in the Pacific Northwest, and the company has since faced increasing public criticism from its employees nationwide over issues including living wages, hourly worker policies, and safety protocols during the COVID-19 pandemic. Workers have organized at least five petitions since 2016. REI has maintained that it is committed to adjusting and improving working conditions for its employees.
Derrick Palmer is an American labor activist and whistleblower. He is Vice President of Organizing of the Amazon Labor Union. He works at the Amazon JFK8 sorting facility on Staten Island.
In 2022, workers from several Trader Joe's grocery stores voted on whether to unionize. A store in Hadley, Massachusetts, became the first to unionize and created Trader Joe's United, an independent union unaffiliated with national unions. A second store in Minneapolis joined them. Other workers have organized with the United Food and Commercial Workers. Trader Joe's, a chain with over 500 locations, is known for its neighborhood store vibe and over-the-top customer service, which has sometimes clashed with its working conditions. Corporate management has a history of resisting staff unionization efforts. Driven by COVID-19 pandemic working conditions, American service sector organization increased, and Trader Joe's worker concerns over safety, pay, and benefits contributed to their union drive.
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