Union
Documentary makers Brett Story and Stephen Maing follow the attempt by workers at a huge Amazon distribution centre in New York City to set up a labour union there.
This David-and-Goliath battle begins in the spring of 2021, when an employee who was fired by Amazon after he complained about unsafe Covid working conditions decides to set up the Amazon Labor Union (ALU). With a few other like-minded people, he tries to convince workers at the distribution centre of the value of unionization.
Union, which often feels like a thriller, follows the activists for a year in fly-on-the-wall style. We see their enthusiasm, as well as the heated discussions about strategy and internal decision-making. Undercover footage shows how Amazon resorts to disinformation and legal action in its attempts to block the establishment of the union. Sharply illustrating the unequal relationship between labour and capital in the United States, the struggle remains suspenseful to the end. (source: www.idfa.nl)
Union will be introduced by Dr. A.R. Lehr, Associate professor - Empirical Political Science.
Dr. Alex Lehr is Associate professor at the Radboud Universiteit in Nijmegen. He studies the (conflict of) interests of employees and employers, and how these are individually and collectively represented at every level – from the workplace to (inter)national socio-economic institutions, specifically concerning sustainability. He researches questions like: How can employers and employees be collectively represented when there are growing conflicts of interests not only between, but within small businesses and large multinationals, or between employees that are securely and flexibly employed? What are the possibilities for coordination and representation of labor market interests when traditional institutions, such as collective bargaining and social partnership, are partially dissolving? As these issues transcend disciplinary boundaries, Alex Lehr has a very strong interdisciplinary orientation.