Staten Island, NY, April 12—Against all odds, Amazon workers in New York dared to struggle, and won! United—Black, Latin, Asian, white—these young workers have formed the Amazon Labor Union (ALU), an independent union representing the workers in an Amazon shipping warehouse  on Staten Island. While politicians, reaching up to President Joe Biden, and so-called labor leaders now congratulate the new union and pledge their support, they were almost nowhere to be found as the workers began and carried through their struggle. While unions are not the solution for liberating workers from capitalism, Progressive Labor Party (PLP) applauds the workers’ integrated fightback at Staten Island’s Amazon shipping warehouse The commitment to their fellow workers is emblematic of how  strikes and organizing become schools for communism. Until our international revolution is won, these lessons are hugely beneficial to our political growth and movement.
Whether the new union will get the support they need or mere lip service is now the question. Jeff Bezos’ Amazon giant has already begun its campaign to get the union election results thrown out and a new election held. Whether Amazon succeeds or not, the ALU then faces the challenge of getting Amazon to the table to bargain fairly for the contract provisions the workers are demanding - safer, better, more humane working conditions and wages high enough to support a family.
Workers of the world unite
At a rally before  the election, one of the ALU leaders said that as he suffered the horrid working conditions in the warehouse, he at first asked why no one could  help him and his fellow workers. Then, he realized that it was not a question of an outside savior. It was up to him and the others directly affected to begin and struggle through until they won what they needed, not allowing racist and sexist ideas to divide them. That is a lesson that all workers ought to take to heart. We need to rely on each other, not phony politicians who want photo-ops  and our votes, or labor misleaders that want to co-opt us and suck up dues money.
The ALU is rightly trying to extend its organizing efforts to other Amazon locations, and Amazon will fight them tooth and nail. The NLRB has ruled in the union’s favor and certified the election, as Biden and the rulers he represents are trying to put on a worker-friendly face. What the ALU has to realize is that the government, the state, and its organs like the NLRB are not neutral. The United States is controlled by a capitalist class, and its institutions will always bend to the capitalists’ will.
 Amazon and all other companies exist for one purpose: to make profits. To make profits, employers MUST exploit their workers. Currently, Bezos is a better exploiter, hence his staggering wealth. In the struggle against the Amazon bosses, ALU workers learned that to get what they needed, they had to fight for it  themselves. The next lesson to be learned is that to get and KEEP what they need, Amazon workers and all workers must fight to destroy the capitalist exploiters and replace their system with communism, a system run by and for workers to fulfill workers’ needs, not to generate profits for a few.
The Progressive Labor Party is organizing workers and students worldwide  with just that goal in mind. Join us!