Sanders, Ocasio-Cortez rally with Amazon union organizers: ‘just the beginning’

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) joined the Amazon Labor Union for a rally on Staten Island Sunday to show their support for the tech giant’s first union.

“What happened here, right here, what you guys did in Staten Island was just the beginning. It was the first domino to fall,” Ocasio-Cortez said to the group gathered on Sunday. 

“But what we need Amazon to do first and foremost is to recognize the union that won their election fair and square,” she added. 

Sanders said the Amazon employees were “sending a message to every worker in America that the time is now to stand up to our oligarchy, to stand up to the success of corporate greed, to create an economy that works for all, not just the few.”

Both Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez sharply criticized Amazon founder Jeff Bezos in their comments.

“What this whole thing is about is working people standing up against the extraordinary level of greed in this country. I don’t know how when you are worth $170 billion why you are spending money trying to break a union,” Sanders said, adding, “How much money does Bezos and the other billionaires need?” 

The lawmakers’ remarks come after workers at the Staten Island factory voted earlier this month to unionize, marking a first for Amazon, which employs more than a million people in the United States.

Efforts to unionize began among Amazon employees on Staten Island during the pandemic, when several employees protested what they said was a lack of adequate safety measures.

Another union drive at an Amazon factory in Alabama has thus far failed, with workers voting last month against joining the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union.