{"id":3170,"date":"2022-08-09T18:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-08-09T18:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uniontrack.com\/blog\/?p=3170"},"modified":"2022-12-19T16:34:55","modified_gmt":"2022-12-19T16:34:55","slug":"young-union-organizers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uniontrack.com\/blog\/young-union-organizers","title":{"rendered":"Spotlight: Two Young Union Organizers in the New Labor Movement"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Ken Green
CEO & Founder
UnionTrack<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The American labor movement has seen a resurgence in the last couple of years driven by younger workers who are organizing workplaces long hostile to unions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMillennials and Gen Z are excited, energized, and winning new gains and a new sense of power at work,\u201d write Katie Barrows and Ethan Miller<\/a>, president and secretary-treasurer, respectively, at the Nonprofit Professional Employees Union (NPEU\/IFPTE), local 70.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The best examples of recent efforts are the successful unionization drives at an Amazon warehouse in Staten Island, New York, and at various Starbucks locations across the nation. These inspiring campaigns were spearheaded by young union organizers like Christian Smalls and Joseph Thompson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christian Smalls Leads Amazon Labor Union to First Victory in Staten Island<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

At 33 years old, Christian Smalls has accomplished what many considered impossible \u2014 forming a union at an Amazon warehouse in the U.S.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His ascension as a labor movement leader began in 2020 when he was fired for staging a walkout at the JFK8 warehouse in Staten Island, New York, to protest working conditions during the pandemic. From that moment on, he dedicated his time to forming the Amazon Labor Union (ALU).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And he did it on his own terms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rather than teaming up with an established union, Smalls and other organizers set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for a grassroots organizing campaign. The campaign included:<\/p>\n\n\n\n