NYC★ WORKS
CELEBRATING LABOR IN THE BIG APPLE
Organized labor divided after
Amazon pulls out of Queens
BY BILL PARRY
Unions representing thousands
of workers across the city were
split early on about Amazon’s
plan for Long Island City — but were
united in lament after the retail giant
derailed their proposal last week.
When Amazon’s anti-union policies
were exposed during a City Council
oversight committee hearing last
month when a company executive,
Brian Huseman, told City Councilman
Jimmy Van Bramer that he could
not support labor neutrality for workers
in Long Island City, the gallery
exploded in protest.
But outside City Hall that day,
construction workers and labor
unions rallied in support of the deal
that the state and city struck with
Amazon to build its HQ2 campus
at Anable Basin and create 25,000
well-paying jobs over 10 years,
with a plan to grow to 40,000 over
15 years.
Local 32BJ of the Service Employees
International Union had carved
out a position that Amazon, which
doesn’t have a single unionized facility
anywhere is the country, might
adopt a more labor neutral posture
once it was established in progressive
and pro-union New York City.
“Amazon’s new headquarters will
be a model for how organized labor
can power the next generation of U.S.
companies to greater success,” 32BJ
SEIU Political Director Alison Hirsh
said during the rally. “These new jobs
and significant neighborhood commitments
will help uplift Queens
families and the city as a whole.”
32BJ SEIU had already secured a
commitment from Amazon that would
have created thousands of permanent
jobs and good wages for cleaners and
security guards at the proposed HQ2
campus in Long Island City and its
leader, Hector Figueroa, who had organized
thousands of airport workers
during a years-long campaign right
here in Queens.
Figueroa figured he could do the
same with Amazon’s headquarters in
Long Island City.
The day before Amazon walked
away from the project, four of its
executives, including Huseman, met
with organized labor leaders in Governor
Cuomo’s Manhattan offices
where they worked out a framework
for a deal.
Stuart Appelbaum, the president of
the powerful Retail, Wholesale and
Department Store Union, had been a
fierce opponent of Amazon was present
along with the regional chapter of
the Teamsters and New York State’s
AFL-CIO. Appelbaum later said he
was “amazed” that Amazon owner
Jeff Bezos cancelled the HQ2 project.
“Rather than addressing the legitimate
concerns that have been raised
by many New Yorkers Amazon says
you do it our way or not at all, we
will not even consider the concerns
of New Yorkers,” RWDSU Director
of Communications Chelsea Connor
said. “That’s not what a responsible
business would do.”
When the deal collapsed, Figueroa
lamented the loss of so many
union jobs, and the potential for so
much more.
“The news that Amazon has decided
to cancel its plans to build its second
headquarters in New York City
is a disappointing development for
working people in our city,” Figueroa
said. “This is a lost opportunity for
Queens and New York on many levels.
Of course, the loss of 25,000
direct jobs and many more indirect
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