President of Amazon labor union calls out Sen. Lindsey Graham to his face during committee hearing

Daily Kos Staff

Thursday May 05, 2022 · 12:06 PM PDT

2022/05/05 · 12:06

Chris Smalls doing heavy lifting for lazy Lindsey Graham

On Thursday, the Senate Budget Committee held a hearing on whether taxpayer money should continue to flow to companies and corporations that violate labor laws. On the panel were representatives from labor, as well as a representative for the conservative think tank, The Heritage Foundation. The Heritage Foundation’s position is that people love “freedom” to work without a union. That Americans’ lives have been greatly improved with fewer unions. The proof? ‘Cause they say so. Forget about stagnating wages and how exponentially widening income inequality is not a sustainable model for a democracy. The COVID-19 pandemic has simply brought the fragile nature of our rigged system into the stark light of truth.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham’s position on the Senate Budget Committee is to work on protecting corporations and companies that continuously violate labor laws. He used his time to pontificate about how most workers don’t really want the protection of labor unions. The proof is that, after creating laws throughout the country that attacked unions and labor for decades, the number of unions has diminished. That was his argument.

Chris Smalls is the president of the Amazon Labor Union, a man who, along with fellow workers at the Staten Island Amazon facility in New York, shocked the world by organizing against the online retail, publishing, and cloud services behemoth a few weeks ago. Smalls, like many labor organizers, was fired by Amazon—a clear retaliation measure. Smalls shared his experiences, the multitude of labor violations that he and others toiled under while also trying to organize their union against a barrage of Amazon-funded union-busting actions and consultants. Smalls has faced off against the evils of anti-union forces and has earned a lot more respect for his integrity than, say, Senator Lindsey Graham, and he used his time to address Graham’s pointless remarks.

It is worth a read and a listen.

Smalls began, “Well, first of all, I want to address Mr. Graham. First off, it sounded like you were talking more about the companies and the businesses in your speech, but you forgot that the people are the ones that make these companies operate,” reminding Graham that the Senator’s campaign purse isn’t the reason for today’s hearing. “If we’re not protected, and if the process for when we hold these companies accountable is not working for us, then that’s the reason why we’re here today.”

CHRIS SMALLS: That’s the reason why I’m here: to represent the workers who make these companies go. I think that it is in your best interest to realize that it’s not a left or right thing. Not a Democrat or a Republican thing. It’s a workers thing. It’s a workers’ issue, and we’re the one that are suffering. in the corporations that you’re talking about, in the businesses you’re talking about, in the warehouses you’re talking about. So that’s the reason why I think I was invited today speak on that behalf. And you should listen because we represent your constituents, as well. So, just take that into consideration—that people are the ones that make these corporations go. It’s not the other way around.

Hot damn!

Smalls went on to talk about the process of organizing against a company that was willing to spend millions of dollars to stop just this one facility from organizing. He detailed being arrested and all of the other illegal activity Amazon participated in, for which they have not even been censured. Smalls finished his speech by reminding the senators that this “is not a left or right issue. It’s a working-class issue.” Please watch.

Chris Smalls, president of @amazonlabor, wants anti-union politicians like @LindseyGrahamSC to remember one thing:

"This is not a left or right thing. This is a working class issue. And the workers at the bottom are the ones who make these corporations go.” pic.twitter.com/GSrfdGD8QB
— More Perfect Union (@MorePerfectUS) May 5, 2022

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President of Amazon labor union calls out Sen. Lindsey Graham to his face during committee hearing

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