The Group Portrait: Amazon's Bane

Organizers for ALU are angling for a second historic victory.

- Sarah Jones

THE VALUE of the windswept bus stop across the street from Amazon’s sprawling JFK8 fulfillment center on Staten Island, and around the corner from its smaller LDJ5 sorting facility, is that it’s public property. Amazon does not control it, which means the organizers of Amazon Labor Union, fresh off their successful drive to unionize the 8,000 workers at JFK8, can use it as a hub to prepare for a union vote at LDJ5 that began April 25. The bus stop is festooned with flyers in four languages explaining the dues process to prospective members. It’s a statement that Amazon doesn’t control its workers, no matter how hard the retail giant may try.