Edward Clarke traveled across the country to tell labor organizers in Seattle he had been fired.

Amazon, he alleged, fired him for helping organize a union.

Clarke had worked at the Amazon air hub in Kentucky as a load planner, monitoring the weight and balance of cargo that went on planes zipping in and out of the facility.

Amazon says Clarke was terminated for directing another employee to finish Clarke’s own work, but Clarke says he was training that employee.

Amazon maintains the decision to terminate Clarke was unrelated to “whether he supports any particular cause or group.” But Clarke disputes that.

“I was vocal,” he said. “I was the first casualty.”

Clarke and three of his former colleagues at Amazons’ KCVG air hub in Kentucky brought their organizing efforts to Seattle Saturday. . They joined local labor groups outside Amazon’s South Lake Union headquarters to pressure the company to stop what union advocates say has been a long-running union busting campaign.

Workers Strike Back, a new labor movement launched by outgoing Seattle City Council member Kshama Sawant and her political party, Socialist Alternative, hosted the rally. The event was a symbol of solidarity meant to connect Washington labor groups to Kentucky workers, as well as bind together union efforts at Amazon to similar campaigns at companies like Starbucks and Google.

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“Without us, there is no Amazon. Without us, there is no Google. Without us, there is no Starbucks,” Clarke told the...

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