Amazon Labor Union President Chris Smalls responded publicly Thursday, February 29 to a post on Twitter at 12:39pm ET announcing an Exclusive INN livestream scheduled to take place later that same evening (organized and led by yours truly). The discussion was with 4 Amazon Labor Union Executive Board members speaking out against Chris and the executive leadership team on a variety of issues.
Why Did INN Decide To Interview These Members?
I decided to hand to microphone to the people who had a grievance and let them tell their stories. Lo and behold, before they even got the opportunity to speak, Chris was already doing damage control, dismissing the entire stream, and their claims, as “Fake News”
Chris Disrespects INN’s Collin Radix-Carter
INN co-founder
, an early childhood educator and organizer with EmpowerED in Washington, DC, responded by wondering publicly why, in the past, Chris never responded to the employees whom had gone to reporters out of frustration for his lack of substantially addressing any criticisms. “Funny, I remember Jordan Chariton offering you an opportunity to share your side of the story when Amazon workers talked about the issues with your leadership on Status Coup. Also, our channel is not monetized so we are not going this interview for profit.”:
Collin, Chris and Justice for Poushawn Brown
Chris should already know who Collin is by now. They’ve interacted dozens of times on Twitter, plus back in January 2023, Collin attended & filmed the 2-year memorial for Poushawn Brown, an Amazon employee who died while working at Amazon during COVID after administering tests to fellow employees without proper PPE. Chris was one of only 4 speakers that day to honor Poushawn’s death, and not many attended and even fewer filmed it. We know that Poushawn’s sister Tina told Chris about INN, the coverage, Collin and the livestream.
It’s not like there are a ton of small independent networks reaching out to ALU (or so we’ve been told) to offer advice & support. More about that stream from last January:
INN even produced a video incorporating the speeches from that day:
It’s not our first experience with Chris or reporting on his activity. A group of INN members collaborated to publish this comprehensive criticism in September 2022:
INN Gets BLOCKED! Members React
Getting back to Leap Day 2024, it was around 2:45pm that we noticed Chris had blocked the network on Twitter
Collin reacted. “The fact that a union board leader blocks a channel who are having the people he is supposed to advocate for because he doesn’t want to hear what they have to say about his leadership is highly sus. [Chris] - that attitude is what will be your downfall.”
Once again, Chris was dismissive, reductive & combative.
INN’s
, Collin’s co-host on INN News and a network co-founder, points out the obvious: “why so defensive? It speaks volumes you just don’t want to be tagged. Clearly you care more about your image than Amazon workers who are speaking tonight”
A small caucus of union members broke out to challenge Chris’s presidency and sue for elections, which ALU ended up agreeing to in a settlement in December 2023 - read more about it in this Business Insider piece) - but Chris seemed intent on whataboutism rather than addressing the concerns of his members. Chris asked why we haven’t been critical of the Teamsters (we have been, going back to their initial plan to unionize Amazon, right through the UPS and Yellow Freight talks).
INN’s
, a longtime critic of Chris Smalls, responded to the dismissive attitude, as well. “This isn’t the way to respond to this interview. You are acting like a entitled childish prick that thinks that you can’t be questioned. It probably would’ve been more effective to just ignore it.”
You can watch the discussion for yourself and decide whether there are issues here.
I thought it was important to get their stories out into the public sphere so people outside the JFK8 Amazon facility knew that there were internal challenges for the union members.
Most people don’t know that some union members don’t feel their issues are being represented by ALU and almost nobody is aware that
The union leadership disbanded the Executive Board, which had been so effective in maintaining momentum after the successful vote, in October 2023.
Do you think it’s ok for a union president to block an independent network for interviewing disgruntled members? Sound off in the comments!
Hi! I’m Indie. I champion corporate-free independent media which challenges the narratives that cable & broadcast media push on behalf of advertisers.
News aggregator
multi-platform content publisher & distributor
livestream & podcast producer
host of multiple shows
self-taught video editor
freelance graphic designer
Founder,
Founder, the
Fiercely independent politically, anti-duopoly (or corporate UniParty). Tirelessly fighting to Free Julian Assange.
INN BLOCKED! Chris Smalls and Amazon Labor Union Dismiss Critics