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 antiunion
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
Continued on Page 26
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