Worker Dissatisfaction + Corporate Greed = the Rebirth of Unions (video)
Amazon, Starbucks and other major employers are unionization targets at the national level. Speeches at the May Day 2023 rally in Tucson reveal movement in local union efforts.
Protesting outside of an Amazon warehouse on May 1, International Workers Day, has become an tradition for Tucson labor unions. Organized by the Pima Area Labor Federation (PALF), the 2023 event drew about 50 protesters on a blustery day.
I grew up in a union household. My Dad was a member of the United Steelworkers. It warms my heart to see the modern-day rise of unions to combat massive corporate greed and ineffective government.
There have been news stories about organizing efforts nationally at Starbucks coffee houses and Amazon warehouses, but the Tucson International Workers Day Speeches focused on local union efforts: BASIS North charter school, United Campus Workers at the University of Arizona, Defenders of Wildlife, the Tucson Federation of Musicians, and the Tucson Teachers Association. Acting as MC, AFL-CIO Organizing Specialist Ryan Kelly added details and history from other union struggles in between the individual speeches.
This video includes the speeches from several young, local Tucson union leaders. It was heartening to see so many young people rising in the ranks of a revived union movement in the US.
May Day Rally Speakers in order of appearance:
0:46 Ryan Kelly, Organizing Specialist, Arizona AFL-CIO (Kelly updates everyone with local union accomplishments in between speakers.)
3:14 Duncan Sohn Hasman, Member of AFT-AZACTS
Organizing Teacher from BASIS Tucson North
7:02 Erica Prather, Member of OPEIU Local 2-Defenders United
Wrongfully fired for organizing by Defenders of Wildlife, won her NLRB case
16:30 Evan Tuohy, Vice President
Tucson Federation of Musicians – AFM Local 33
26:06 Jim Byrne, President-Elect, Tucson Education Association
(My apologies for the wind and the street noise.)
Just for fun, here’s May Day 2021. You can see how Amazon has made their facility less visible in the last two years.