STATEN ISLAND, NY— Organized labor took their fight to Amazon’s doorstep this afternoon, where a crowd of around 100 union members and community organizers gathered in Matrix Global Logistics Park, the site of fulfillment center JFK8 and former place of employment for Justin Rashad Long.
The heavily roboticized Staten Island fulfillment center has been a flashpoint for activists since the Retail Wholesale and Department Store Union announced it would be helping workers unionize JFK8 in December. Long, one of the most outspoken workers employed at the center, was fired in February in what he and labor leaders believe was retaliation for his testimony about conditions within the facility. “They talk to you like you’re nothing — all they care about is their numbers,” Long told Bloomberg last year, in testimony that would later be echoed by others employed at JFK8.