“@amazon wanted to make me the face of the whole unionizing efforts against them…. welp there you go!” Smalls tweeted, tagging both Bezos and the company’s general counsel David Zapolsky.
According to multiple outlets, outside the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) office in Brooklyn, Smalls told reporters on Friday, “We want to thank Jeff Bezos for going to space because while he was up there we were organizing a union.”
A count by the NLBR showed that there were 2,654 votes in favor of unionizing and 2,131 votes against it—meaning 55 percent of those who voted at the JFK8 fulfillment center in New York City supported the effort.
Ahead of the 2020 strike, Smalls previously told Newsweek: “We want the truth out there. We want the public to know the amount of cases these buildings really have.”
Smalls and those at the JFK8 feared that there were insufficient health protocols in the early days of the pandemic and that lack of sick paid leave encouraged infected personnel to continue returning to work.
Bezos’ company has has a history of union-busting—which workers at JFK8 are familiar with.
“We’re evaluating our options, including filing objections based on the inappropriate and undue influence by the NLRB that we and others (including the National Retail Federation and U.S. Chamber of Commerce) witnessed in this election,” the statement read.
The unionizing efforts on Staten Island have garnered the attention of many and even won the support of important political figures like Senator Bernie Sanders.
The vote count in Alabama is much more narrow and currently hinges on 416 challenged ballots, which are enough to sway the final vote and are expected to be adjudicated in coming weeks.
