Union

Unionized workers can stand up to their employers, as Amazon is well aware, so the company does everything it can to keep unions out. Documentary makers Brett Story and Stephen Maingfollow the attempt by workers at a huge Amazon distribution center in New York City to set up a labor union there.

This David-and-Goliath battle begins in the spring of 2021, when an employee who was fired by Amazon after he complained about unsafe Covid working conditions decides to set up the Amazon Labor Union (ALU). With a few other like-minded people, he tries to convince workers at the distribution center of the value of unionization.

Union, which often feels like a thriller, follows the activists for a year in fly-on-the-wall style. We see their enthusiasm, as well as the heated discussions about strategy and internal decision-making. Undercover footage shows how Amazon resorts to disinformation and litigation in its attempts to block the establishment of the union. Sharply illustrating the unequal relationship between labor and capital in the United States, the struggle remains suspenseful to the end.