“United we stand, divided we fall” is the takeaway from Stephen Maing and Brett Story’s compelling film “Union.” The documentary is about a worker-activist group, JFK8, founded to legalize the Amazon Labor Union (ALU) by Chris Smalls, a fired employee at Amazon’s warehouse on Staten Island.
Circuit Arts is bringing the gritty 2024 Sundance Film Festival winner to the Grange on August 23. “Union” viscerally tracks the struggles of a core group of current and laid-off employees to address the inequities at one of the country’s largest and most powerful companies during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Unlike many documentaries, there are no identified talking-head experts or narrators. Instead, we get firsthand, real-time footage primarily shot outside the JFK8 warehouse. We follow Smalls and his colleagues through their tireless, collaborative efforts to garner support they need, where first they must collect the signatures of 30 percent of current employees to initiate an election for a union.
Out there pounding the pavement in all kinds of weather, talking to their co-workers, trying to garner support — they are up against a powerful adversary.
We learn that Amazon’s annual employee turnover rate is roughly 150 percent, which means nearly 100 percent of workers are replaced every six months. There is footage of secretly taped mandatory employee meetings where Amazon uses scare tactics about the potential effects of having a union. Amazon says workers have no reason to trust the leadership with their union dues, and issue assurances that Amazon has their best interest at heart. The company hires union busters at $2,000 to $3,000 a day.
We hear from workers about poor pay, job insecurity, breaks that don’t allow enough time to get to the cafeteria to eat lunch, gender discrimination, lack of promotions. Employees live in their cars. Most workers must commute more than two hours to get to the remote location.
JFK8’s David to Amazon’s Goliath must face the startup union battle alone early in the campaign, because no established union will endorse them. Even as Amazon’s tactics escalate, the fight continues, and the ALU gains ground.
Smalls’ dogged persistence and complete dedication to the effort, at significant personal cost, including its effect on his family, is “against all odds” compelling. He tirelessly works with the organizing committee at night via Zoom meetings, tries to balance personalities and the looming deadlines and frontline tactics.
When the going gets particularly tough, there is a time of significant dissent among the leadership that threatens to derail everything.
While the ultimate outcome made the news, the ups and downs captured by the film’s skillful unfolding of intricate events keeps you engrossed, rooting for the underdog, even if you already know the outcome. Compelling indeed.
“Union” screens on Friday, August 23, at 7 pm, followed by a discussion with directors Stephen Maing and Brett Story. For more information and pay-what-you-wish tickets, visit circuitarts.org/union.
Let’s not forget Norma Rae.
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