Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez had promised to attend a union rally exterior an Amazon warehouse in Staten Island however did not present, leaving staff "crestfallen."
AP Photograph/Craig Ruttle, File
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is ghosting her comrades on the frontlines of a labor battle towards Amazon.
The socialist lawmaker promised organizers she would stand by them at a rally exterior a Staten Island warehouse attempting to unionize, however dropped out on the final minute — and protest leaders revealed to The Submit this week that they have been so crestfallen they didn’t even hassle inviting her to a follow-up rally in December.
“I figured she would observe her phrase. It was heartbreaking,” protest organizer Christian Smalls informed The Submit. “I felt dangerous for the employees that have been excited to see her.
“It was like a slap within the face,” he added.
About 50 individuals confirmed up for the unionization rally exterior the JFK8 Amazon success middle in Bloomfield on Aug 11.
Activists from the unbiased Amazon Labor Union mentioned they didn’t even hassle inviting the Congresswoman — who infamously defeated Amazon’s proposal in 2019 to open up a 25,000-job world headquarters in Queens — to a Dec. 15 rally exterior the identical facility. The congresswoman spent the vacation season in sunny Florida with sandals-loving boyfriend Riley Roberts.
“After she didn’t present up the primary time there was no level in reaching out to her after that,” Derrick Palmer, a packer on the Amazon warehouse, mentioned.
The 2 organizers met AOC once they traveled to Washington, DC, to affix Rep. Cori Bush (D-Missouri) in her eviction moratorium protest on the steps of the US Capitol in August. Smalls mentioned they spent hours speaking to Ocasio-Cortez concerning the Amazon Union — and he or she lavished reward on the hassle.
“Massive Announcement she can be becoming a member of us at our first Rally in entrance of JFK8 Staten Island Amazon Subsequent Week Aug eleventh 4pm Pull Up!!!!.” Smalls mentioned in a tweet after midnight on Aug. 3, sharing a selfie with himself and AOC.
Over the subsequent few days, Smalls and Palmer mentioned they have been involved with Ocasio-Cortez’s workplace — in addition to that of Rep. Mondaire Jones (D-Nyack) to debate logistics.
But simply hours earlier than their deliberate arrival, each pols dropped out.
Smalls mentioned AOC’s workplace got here to him about imprecise “threats” the congresswoman had obtained and that she was canceling her upcoming deliberate appearances. The menace seems to have abated in time for her to attend the Met Gala a month later with billionaire inheritor Benjamin Bronfman and the rich tax-avoiding clothier Aurora James.
Unionizing Amazon staff had been a holy grail of activists for years.
Final April the corporate beat again an effort to unionize an Alabama warehouse. A 2014 unionization effort in Delaware additionally failed by a large margin. Smalls, the president of the Amazon Labor Union, is trying to make historical past with the Staten Island warehouse and led a walkout with Amazon staff from the facility simply earlier than Christmas.
Reps for each places of work declined to remark.
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