On March 18th, 2023, workers at Amazon KCVG launched an organizing effort with ALU out of JFK8. Since the start of this campaign, those workers have been met by management with aggressive union busting tactics and escalating retaliation. KCVG workers have been organizing for better pay, fairness in disciplinary hearings, translation & language justice, and most importantly for a seat at the bargaining table as a union. In response, management has written up 11 workers for exercising their right to organize. Now, they have fired one of those workers.
In 2022, Amazon brought in $225 billion in profits. The company had a revenue of 330,000 per employee of the company. Despite this, Amazon workers make less on average than most other warehouse workers in the country. Without its workers, Amazon could not generate the exorbitant profits that allow Jeff Bezos to gain 1.4 million an hour. The company’s refusal to respect the basic rights of their employees to bargain for better wages and conditions demonstrates that they would rather generate obscene profits at the expense of the health and happiness of workers.
It is with these thoughts in mind that the Democratic Socialists of America of Metro Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky chapter reaffirm their solidarity with the workers at KCVG Amazon and their ongoing efforts to democratically organize their workplace. They are entitled to dignity and respect. They deserve a living wage. They deserve to own their labor. Solidarity with the Amazon Workers Union at KCVG!