The Fight to Organize and be heard is front and center in Union

by DarkSkyLady

Union played at Sundance. It is a documentary about the fight for Amazon workers to create the first union and stop the exploitation of a company that makes over a trillion dollars a year. When one Amazon employee and former ALU (Amazon Labor Union) member, Nat, compared Amazon to Goliath, she did not exaggerate. Like the AMPTP, they use underhanded, even illegal, tactics that should land them in court. 
But a capitalist society always sides with businesses, never workers. Union presents an honest and eye-opening look at a grassroots group led by a former Amazon employee, Christian Smalls, as they take on the gargantuan task despite challenges and dissension in the ranks while trying to maintain their determination to fight. 

Directed by Stephen Maing and Brett Story, the movie opens with a gigantic freighter transporting cargo, then cuts to people taking public transit, then working in the Amazon factories before showing a clip of Jeff Bezos on his vanity Blue Origin flight to space. This alone highlights the disconnect between the billionaire Bezos and the workers struggling to survive. It's illogical that one has an overabundance of money while the backbone of their business, the workers, barely survive and work in dangerous and exploitative conditions. 

Union Shows the Strain and Complexities of Forming One

Journeying with both the founder of the ALU, Smalls, and its subsequent members striving to improve work conditions, the Union doesn't shy away from hardships. The goal is to create one in JFK8. Despite restrictions to protect employees from retaliatory firings, corporate entities or businesses like Amazon often find simple ways to circumvent that. All a job must do is target an employee for "mistakes," large or small, and inevitably push them out. Similar to cops who racially profile—the harassment has nothing to do with what the individual does but who they are. 

Aside from that constant stress and the horrific workplace conditions Amazon employees experience, the documentary shows the divisions forming in the ranks. Some members have a voice. Others get shut out at every turn. One woman who leaves the union points out she didn't fight against one boy's club to support another. 

Not only are gender issues becoming apparent, but racial tensions. White members downplay the dangers and risks Black and Brown members face when law enforcement comes in at the behest of corporations. Union differs from other documentaries because it does not show the best of the members. They are people, flaws and all, trying to make something better for every Amazon employee. 

Laws Do Not Offer Enough Protections

Union makes it abundantly clear that despite the strides made to protect employees from harmful workplaces, there are still too many issues. Aside from companies finding excuses to fire employees, they can simply target and harass employees until they quit. The audio recordings demonstrating the lies Amazon tells its workers to deter them will enrage many viewers. 

Unions should exist to help circumvent some of the harm businesses like Amazon cause. The ALU fought long and hard, from waiting outside to talk to workers to handing out food to sustain them. The documentary understands this and does not seek to sell the importance of such organizations for workers. Businesses never have their employees' best interests at heart. The directors follow Christian Smalls around and interview other members, letting their and others' experiences speak for themselves. 

Union is a raw, grassroots-style documentary that doesn't glam up the fight. Depending on who you talk to, Smalls is the founder who helps ALU or the founder who hinders ALU. Egos get in the way of progress, but that does not minimize the importance of organizations that care more for workers than employers ever will. While some might take away the challenges of forming and maintaining a union, the movie is more than that. Union shows that the fight never ends, and there is always room for improvement, even after a victory.