Police arresting three organizers outside Amazon warehouse JFK8 on Wednesday.
NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- NYPD officers arrested three Amazon union organizers at the JFK8 warehouse on Staten Island Wednesday as they attempted to deliver food to workers on their lunch break.
Workers at JFK8, the largest Amazon warehouse in New York City, are organizing to unionize under the Amazon Labor Union.
Christian Smalls, a former employee at the warehouse and the leader of the campaign, was at the facility with his fellow organizers to give out free grilled chicken and pasta to workers in the break room, according to Derrick Palmer, who is also an organizer.
Two anonymous workers who witnessed the arrests told Motherboard that Amazon representatives said they were calling the police on the organizers for trespassing when they arrived to deliver the food.
Smalls was fired in 2020 after leading a protest outside the warehouse for increased health and safety standards.
Police in the video can be heard saying “trespassing” when asked why Smalls is being arrested.
In a statement, Amazon said Smalls escalated the situation after the company called the police.
“Mr. Smalls — who is not an employee — has repeatedly trespassed despite multiple warnings,” said the company in a statement to Financial Times reporter David Lee. “Today, when police officers asked Mr. Smalls to leave, he instead chose to escalate the situation and the police made their own decision on how to respond.”
Amazon did not comment on the working status of the other two organizers who were arrested.
Insider reported on NYPD arresting two other union organizers at the same warehouse in November.
The National Labor Relations Board in August of 2021 found that Amazon violated labor law by interfering with union elections at a warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama.
Union elections at JFK 8 are scheduled for late march.
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