Who Is Really Calling For #BoycottAmazon?

Article

Mar 11

A sign from Amazon protests in New York calling for unionization. [AFP/Kena Betancur]

This past weekend, supporters of Amazon warehouse workers in Bessemer, Alabama, shared a message of solidarity: Boycott Amazon, and “don’t cross the virtual picket line.” The workers are in the midst of a union vote, one that could set a precedent for Amazon warehouses across the country.

There’s just one problem with the boycott: The unionizing workers in Bessemer never called for it, according to the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, the labor union organizing the Bessemer campaign.

The call to boycott came on March 3 from Kris LaGrange, a labor union communications consultant, who wrote that the boycott would “support Amazon workers and let the company know that we do not approve of their union-busting tactics.” It was then amplified by other groups and Twitter users with the hashtag #BoycottAmazon.

As a former member of the Gizmodo Media Group Union, I remember the careful plans for escalation we prepared before the union’s 2019 contract renewal process at the media group I worked for. I can only imagine how negotiations might have gone south had outside supporters intervened with no respect for our plans. Without taking the lead from union organizers, there’s no telling how a viral Amazon boycott campaign might affect the Bessemer union’s strategy during the voting period. As Strikewave editor C.M. Lewis tweeted, “Disrupting that disrupts the entire plan.”

Instead, supporters might try posting messages of solidarity online (the organizers have been retweeting support), and write to public officials asking that they publicly support the union as well. And who knows — with the unionization process far from over, warehouse workers may yet need consumer power to help them across the finish line. Supporters can follow their lead.