EXCLUSIVE: In April 2022 Amazon union leader Chris Smalls and his associates in the trenches pulled off one of the most astounding feats in the annals of American labor: successfully unionizing the first Amazon facility anywhere in the country. The story of how Smalls and members of the grassroots Amazon Labor Union achieved the unthinkable is told in the award-winning documentary Union , directed by Brett Story and Stephen Maing. We have your first look at the film in the trailer above.
“On April 1, 2022 a group of ordinary workers (the ALU) in Staten Island [New York] made history when they did what everyone thought was impossible: they successfully won their election to become the very first unionized Amazon workplace in America, with no prior organizing experience, no institutional backing, and a total budget of $120,000 raised on GoFundMe,” notes a synopsis. “ Union focuses on the journey of the worker-turned-organizers, described by ALU President Christian Smalls as the ‘N.W.
A. of the organizing world,’ whose highly unconventional journey goes from wearing Money Heist costumes at press conferences to distributing free marijuana to workers.” Under a self-distribution arrangement , Level Ground Productions will release the documentary theatrically in more than 15 markets beginning October 18.
Self-distribution became a necessity after major distributors steered clear of Union , perhaps wary of upsetting retail and streaming behemoth Amazon, or its founder Jeff.