When workers at an Amazon warehouse in Staten Island, New York, won their April 2022 union election, they also scored a major victory for the broader labor movement. Winning a union election is unnecessarily difficult, and this first union election win for U.S. Amazon workers could be a catalyst for others trying to form unions across the country.
To secure improvements in working conditions, the warehouse workers will now try to sign a collective bargaining agreement with Amazon — something that employer opposition and weak U.S. labor law make very hard to accomplish.
Unfortunately, only half of unionized workers reach a contract with their employer within a year. And even if the Staten Island workers sign a collective bargaining agreement, they are bargaining only over the conditions at their specific worksite — not for all of Amazon’s warehouses, nor for the entire delivery sector — which leaves them vulnerable to the warehouse closing or other corporate reorganizations.
How can U.S. Amazon workers succeed against these challenges? Lessons from Amazon workers in Italy may hold the answers. In Italy in 2021, Amazon and several unions signed “historic” nationwide contracts that provided far more for workers than what Amazon workers have been able to achieve in any other country.
The Italian agreements recognize unions as the workers’ representatives, set companywide requirements for hours and worker protections, and oblige the firm to comply with relevant sectoral agreements that set minimum compensation and other standards for the entire industry. Importantly, the contracts cover temporary workers and the “last mile” delivery that is often done by other firms or independent contractors as well as direct employees of Amazon.
Three factors were critical to workers’ successes: widespread worker organizing disrupted Amazon operations; governmental pressure encouraged negotiations; and Italy’s sectoral bargaining structure facilitated worker actions, anchored discussions and incentivized Amazon to comply.
Italian unions conducted a national delivery-chain strike — meaning throughout Amazon’s operations — that significantly reduced Amazon’s ability to deliver packages in a timely manner. These disruptions and the potential for more created incentives for Amazon to negotiate. The strikes also provided an opportunity for the Italian minister of labor to bring the parties together and encourage unions and the company to reach a deal.
One of the reasons workers went on strike was to ensure Amazon fully complied with the sectoral agreements that already covered similar workers in the industry. The existence of sectoral agreements also meant that Amazon would not have to give up that much by signing the collective agreement; their competitors would have similar labor costs, and parts of the sectoral agreement already were de facto requirements.
In contrast, German unions have waged years of strikes (the longest in German history) against Amazon but have been unable to sign an agreement with the company. This may be because German governments do not push for negotiations, as well as because in Germany the terms of sectoral agreements are not extended to other companies and thus place less pressure on Amazon to comply.
There are big differences between Italy and the United States, so the steps Italian workers took are not directly replicable. Still, the lessons from their success suggest a path forward. Grassroots worker activism combined with supportive policies and bargaining frameworks is a winning formula — and one that has proven successful throughout U.S. history.
