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WOKE WASHINGTON: The fight to unionize an Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Ala. is scrambling politics here in Washington.
The union election in the red state â in which votes are still being tallied â comes as Republicans declare war on Big Tech and are now threatening to divorce corporate America, lashing out at big business this week for wading into political debates. Republicans are now tossing around the term âcorporate wokenessâ as something to fight against as they seek to redefine themselves as the âWorking Class Party.â (Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post).
- âWhat does this mean for folks â especially those right of center? It’s a real opportunity to recognize that pro-market is not the same as pro-business,â Oren Cass, the founder of American Compass and a former adviser to Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), told us.
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Cass explained the internal conflict facing Republicans when it comes to embracing union drives like the one in Bessemer.
- âWhen we look at this Amazon fight, what right-of-center feels is tension on the idea of focusing more on interests of workers, and on the other hand, being very hesitant of giving more power to the current set of big labor organizations we have in this country,â Cass added. âIt’s really important to distinguished unions as they operate today in America from the idea of a healthy labor movement.â
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From Amazon to Starbucks, Workers Caught Between Big Business & Big Labor Need Support
Emily Jashinsky features Wells Kingâs analysis of the Amazon union vote on Staten Island in a discussion of the difficulties facing workers organizing today.
The Amazon Union Drive and the Changing Politics of Labor
In a discussion of the changing politics of organized labor, Benjamin Wallace-Wells cites American Compass’s work on the issue and its promise on the right-of-center.
What American Workers Really Want Instead of a Union at Amazon
American Compass executive director Oren Cass discusses the failed unionization drive at Amazon’s Bessemer, AL, warehouse and what it says about what kind of support and representation workers actually want.
