union
Up against one of the most powerful companies on the planet, a group of Amazon workers embark on an unprecedented campaign to unionize their warehouse in Staten Island, New York.
“Astounding, rebellious… brilliant.”
SYNOPSIS
Through intimate cinema vérité, UNION chronicles the extraordinary efforts of an unlikely group of warehouse workers as they launch a grassroots union campaign at an Amazon fulfillment center in Staten Island, New York. Led by the charismatic but underestimated Chris Smalls, the diverse band of workers start the Amazon Labor Union (ALU) and embark on a journey against one of the largest and most powerful companies in the world. The odds are stacked against them, as the group finds itself up against a tech industry giant with unlimited resources, without major support from national unions or politicians, and while navigating internal divisions within their own ranks. Filmmakers Brett Story and Stephen Maing document the struggle from day one, offering a gripping human drama about the fight for power and dignity in today's globalized economic landscape.
Creative Team
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS
Adam McKay
Todd Schulman
Press
Take Action
With 1.5 million employees globally, Amazon is actively setting the standard for a future of work defined by automation, surveillance, lack of safety, and employee turnover rates as high as 150%. In the United States, despite an uptick in worker stoppages, boycotts and strikes last year, union density is at an all-time low. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that just 10% of hourly and salaried workers were members of unions, or around 14.4 million people. More recently, Amazon joined Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Trader Joe’s in a legal fight to declare the National Labor Relations Board as unconstitutional.
Amazon is aggressively setting the anti-union standard for the future of labor in the United States and globally.
Worker organizing at Amazon is critical for redefining our economic and political futures – this single corporation controls much of the Internet’s infrastructure, it dictates terms of online retail globally, it sells cloud services to militaries around the globe, and has hollowed out the mainstreets of towns and cities across the country. Warehouse workers are joined by tech workers, activists, and the public to challenge these corporate bosses and force change.
Inspired by the ALU’s “for the people by the people” union campaign, we’re distributing UNION ourselves and couldn’t be more excited to bring it directly to audiences nationwide. This is where you come in. We need your help to bring UNION to the people. We see this as an invaluable opportunity to show support for the labor movement. If you’d like to partner with us on the release of UNION, please contact team@unionthefilm.com.