Full interview with Secretary-Treasurer of the Amazon Labor Union
Full interview with Secretary-Treasurer of the Amazon Labor Union
Plus memes and thirst traps for the working class
Words from John
Howdy.
Not too many words from me in this edition. We’re keeping it like I wish online recipes would be kept - brief and recipe-focused.
This edition is comprised of more thirst-trappy memes though mainly because they’re carrying a good pro-working class message and getting some eyeballs on Tik Tok. We’re a nation governed by memes apparently, so I expect the people will get more of what they want going forward.
Hey! You like this kind of media existing in the world right? Help us stick around with a cheap subscription!
Until next time!
Full Interview - Connor Spence, Secretary-Treasurer of Amazon Labor Union
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Video Transcript:
Connor Spence
My name is Connor Spence, I'm the Secretary-Treasurer of the Amazon Labor Union. I've worked with Amazon since 2017, I started at a building called DWR 4 in New Jersey. And, you know, just ever since I started working there, I wasn't really happy with the working conditions. And, I saw it as problematic the way that the company is taking these business practices and using them to become the second largest employer in the country. So I think that, you know, that's really what drove me to want to try to organize my coworkers to improve things.
John Russell
Can you tell us a little bit about your job at Amazon, what it's like, and how you want it to change?
Connor Spence
So I work at the JFK8 warehouse on Staten Island. I work in the packing department. You know, the problem with Amazon, which everybody knows about is, you know, there are extremely high productivity quotas, you're surveilled very closely, you can't even really go to the bathroom for very long without getting in trouble. The turnover is 150%. So the average job doesn't last more than eight months for the average worker. And, you know, we have very clear demands that we want to make, to the company that, you know, we know would improve safety would improve working conditions, it would make the job a better place to work. But the company, you know, they don't want to listen. It's profit over people. So the only way for us to really make them meet our demands is by engaging in collective action. So by organizing and unionizing.
John Russell
I watched you guys win that warehouse election. Can you tell us a little bit about what that was? Like, you know, in the run-up to it, how are you feeling? And then when it actually happened, tell us what that was like.
Connor Spence
So from April 20th of 2021 to April 1st of 2022, that was just one long campaign for us one long grassroots campaign. We all did it, essentially, as volunteers, we would work our 40 hours a week in the warehouse, and then spend literally the rest of our waking hours trying to organize workers, so that we could, you know, get to an election and win the election. So obviously, when we got approved for the election, that was a huge deal. For us, that was really emotional moment and then winning the election itself was even crazier. So it was great to see all our hard work pay off.
John Russell
What do you have to say to other workers who are thinking about unionizing?
Connor Spence
I would just say it's, you know, forget about everything you've heard, just think logically about it, you know, you have demands that you want to make of your employer because you know, you know, you're getting screwed over, you're not getting paid enough. You have working conditions you want to change, and it wouldn't really cost them a lot to change them. Why aren't they listening to you? And you know, if you want to make them listen to you, is it better to do it as one person or as a group of your, you know, your collection of all your co-workers together? And so, you know, if you look at it through that lens, obviously, organizing and having a structure in your workplace is the way to put pressure on the boss. And that's what a union is.
John Russell
What do you think worked really well and led you guys to succeed where other more established unions have failed? Any perspective on that?
Connor Spence
Well, I mean, obviously, you know, the fact that we were an internal union and made the company really, it was really difficult for them to third party us and, you know, it helped us build trust with our co-workers. But like I said, I think it was the endurance aspect of it. For the amount of work that we put in trying to unionize Amazon, no established union really pays organizers for that amount of, you know, those amount of hours and, and overtime. And so, I think it was just the passion and the fact that we really wanted it more than anyone else that led us to victory.
Union strong thirst trap
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Text over video: POV: the youngest boy had two sacks, bowling league is tonight, and 21 million Americans are union strong.
Song: Luchenbach Texas, Waylon Jennings.
I love making videos like this. They’re ridiculous and funny, but also they’ve been getting good traction. This one has about 60,000 views on TikTok and more on other platforms. If memes are going to shape our politics, then we might as well make them pro-labor memes. Here’s an article with more food for thought on political memes:
But memes also have a serious side, according to researchers looking at modern forms of communication. They are a language in themselves, with a capacity to transcend cultures and construct collective identities between people. These sharable visual jokes can also be powerful tools for self-expression, connection, social influence and even political subversion.
Plus, I can’t be sure, but I’m pretty sure this video sold some IBEW jean jackets. Get your solidarity swag here.
Yallternative thirst trap about milk and taxes
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Text over video: When the whole milk came in glass bottles and we taxed the richest at 90%
Song: Milk Cow Blues, Bob Wills and The Texas Playboys
Here’s another Yallternative meme that’s closing in on 70K views. The comment section is filled with people who like classic country music and are as mad at single-use plastics as they are at billionaires. Consider this my influencer contribution to the platform of whoever is running for president in 2024. It’s a winner.
Country for Commies: All I Want is a Life, Tim McGraw
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Video Transcript:
We are making a playlist together called Country for Commies. It's linked in my bio and the first song is All I Want is a Life by Tim McGraw.
A little bit about how we're going to do this. There's a lot of lefty country over the years, so drop your suggestions in the comments. There are a bunch of these playlists, even some of the same name already out there, but we're going to talk about the background, the lyrics, and the song as we add them.
For all you purists, this is subjective. A lot of it will be based on my experience as a country fan. We will get to the legends: John Prine, Loretta Lynn, Hank Williams, Woody Guthrie, and Dolly Parton. They'll be in there but a lot of poppy mainstreamers will be in there too. So let me know your suggestions in the comments.
All I Want is a Life was recorded by Tim McGraw in 1995. It was written by Donald Pfrimmer, Tony Carl Mullins, and Stan Muncie.
Take a look at the first lyrics. "I just want to get a little more out of my payday. Finally on a car that doesn't break down on the freeway. A little vacation ain't askin' very much."
Starts out strong and keeps the lead foot down on the anti-capitalist throttle. Here's the chorus. "All I want is a life. To drink from a glass from a well that ain't dry. I'm sick of the crumbs, I want a piece of that pie." baby! Hell yeah.
This song pulls one of my favorite lefty moves. I call it being the cheese. When your dog is sick and doesn't want to take its medicine, you wrap it and cheese and it's all good.
Tim McGraw is the cheese for a bunch of working-class stiffs whose whole masculinity and idea of that make them allergic to the lefty themes in the song.
And it's 1995. Bill Clinton just won re-election by triangulation, which was basically just becoming a Republican and adopting extremely pro-corporate policies. And the king of all of those, NAFTA, the trade agreement that unleashed the largest companies to hunt for the cheapest workers across the globe and killed American manufacturing, had just passed in 1994.
Our character in this song knows that he's not going to do as well as his parents and he also probably knows that it's going to be much worse for his kids, which it turns out was absolutely true. Our character is out there doing his very best for his family while these forces beyond his control are conspiring to make a few people rich at his expense. And the line that drives that all home is "just want to break even, someday before I die."
Don't we all? Anyway, the playlist is in the bio. What song belongs on there next?
Country for Commies: One Drop of Water, Ralph Stanley
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Video Transcript:
It's Country for Commies, the playlist that we're building in my bio, and our next song is One Drop of Water by Mr. Ralph Stanley. Let's take a 10-second listen to that.
"Give me one drop of water, the rich man cried from hell. One drop of water, but still no water felt."
Tell me that doesn't go hard as hell, pun intended.
Our last addition was All I Want is a Life by Tim McGraw, which is a lot different than this track, but that's how I see this playlist playing out. The songs might be radically different, but they'll all be related to or champion the working class.
And man you guys came through on the comments of the last video. I made a list of all your suggestions and had completely forgotten about One Drop of Water.
Another one of my favorite lyrics in there is
"You can't love gold and silver, and love the Savior too. Like the eye of the needle, no chance of getting through."
How's that for a dose of Christian socialism? I mean, Jesus was a brown dude, walking around in sandals, with long hair, and hanging out with the outcasts. I don't think he shares a lot in common with the prosperity theology people, and all these people are distinctly *not* needle-shaped. It is gonna be hard to get through that needle.
Ralph Stanley, if you don't know is on the Mount Rushmore of bluegrass. He was born in 1927. He died in 2016. And he formed, with his brother, their band, the Clinch Mountain Boys, which hired later on down the line, teenagers Ricky Skaggs and Keith Whitley. Keith Whitley, who wrote My Amy, which was trending on here to everybody's immense enjoyment for a while.
One Drop of Water is on the album While the Ages Roll On. It was released June 1st, 2000, although Spotify has it as 2005 for some reason, and Coielle Church shares a writing credit on the song.
The song isn't very good for rich men. Back in 2000 when it was released, the world's richest man was Bill Gates who had $60 billion. Today Bill Gates is the fourth richest man, despite his fortune more than doubling to $129 billion. So good luck to all the billionaires on the whole camel through the eye of the needle thing. It's gonna be hard.
Follow me for more and hop in the comments with what song you think should be next on Country for Commies.