Tech Won't Save Us What’s Next for Amazon Workers? w/ Kim Kelly
Paris Marx is joined by Kim Kelly to discuss what it was like on the ground in Bessemer as workers tried to form a union at Amazon, the mood after the results came in, and where the organizing effort against Amazon goes from here.
Kim Kelly is a freelance labor reporter who has written for Teen Vogue, The Baffler, Vox, and many others. She is also writing a book for One Signal Publishers called “Fight Like Hell” that will come out in 2022. Follow Kim on Twitter as @GrimKim.
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Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Follow the podcast (@techwontsaveus) and host Paris Marx (@parismarx) on Twitter, and support the show on Patreon.
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Also mentioned in this episode:
- Kim wrote about the workers and organizers behind the Bessemer campaign, and how faith was an important motivating factor. She also reported on it for More Perfect Union.
- Alex Press outlined the history of civil rights unionism in the US South.
- Caroline O’Donovan explained how Amazon workers are organizing beyond Bessemer, and why some don’t plan to seek NLRB recognition.
- Luis Feliz Leon wrote about the growing international movement to challenge Amazon.
- The Retail Wholesale and Department Store Union challenged the result of the Bessemer union vote over Amazon’s union busting tactics.
- The New York Times spoke to some workers who voted “no” for the union.
- Amazon promotes its $15 minimum wage, but it actually pushes down wages in the warehousing sector.
- The PRO Act is a major change to US labor legislation that would make it easier to unionize.