After years of scattershot walk-outs and demonstrations, workers at Amazon’s fulfillment center in Shakopee have begun an effort to unionize the warehouse and legally force the retail giant to negotiate with them
Union organizers at the warehouse are collecting union cards for Amazon Labor Union Minnesota, which is affiliated with the first and only unionized Amazon warehouse in Staten Island, N.Y.
The union drive is sure to set up another high-profile standoff between union supporters and Amazon, which fiercely opposes unions and has violated U.S. labor law in its efforts to quash organizing efforts.
Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Tyler Hamilton, a lead organizer with the campaign, said a union will give them a stronger position to negotiate higher wages and better working conditions.
“(Amazon managers) only care about what is the bare minimum we can pay people and still have enough workers,” Hamilton said. “Them just showing this consistently, for years, has really undermined the credibility they could have had.”
Hamilton, 25, has worked at the warehouse for over five years, which makes him something of a grizzled old-timer at a company where few people endure the grueling, fast-paced work for longer than a year. Hamilton, already a skinny guy, says he lost 10 lbs in his first month working at Amazon.
He works the overnight shift — 5 p.m. to 3:30 a.m. — four days a week most of the year. During the holiday season, Amazon requires workers to...
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