Amazon.com labor organizer Christian Smalls was on Wednesday arrested, accused of trespassing when he delivered warehouse workers food as part of a high-profile union campaign he is leading.
Smalls, 33, a former Amazon employee, and two other individuals have been charged with obstructing governmental administration, New York City Police Lieutenant John Grimpel said, adding that Smalls was also charged with resisting arrest and trespassing.
The other two individuals were Amazon workers, an advocacy group said.
All three were later released, Smalls said, adding that he disputed the charges and would continue his battle in court.
Smalls has “repeatedly trespassed, despite multiple warnings,” Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel said.
The company had not contacted the police about its own employees.
Smalls’ quest to make Amazon’s JFK8 Staten Island warehouse a unionized facility is to come to a head when workers vote starting on March 25.
A second closely watched election is occurring at Amazon’s warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama, with vote-by-mail being accepted until March 25 and the vote count starting on March 28. Last year, workers at that warehouse voted against unionizing.
A majority vote to unionize at either facility would mark Amazon’s first organized workplace in the US.
Smalls said by telephone that he brought food on Wednesday afternoon for employees to distribute, something he has done for months.
The break-room meals are the Amazon Labor Union’s chance to share literature and build relationships with workers, he said.
This time, the Amazon manager who had fired him two years ago told him to leave, later calling the police, Smalls said.
“I’m literally a visitor. Do y’all call police on taxi drivers and Uber drivers who wait for associates?” Smalls said, adding that Amazon wanted to “increase the intimidation factor.”
His clashes with Amazon date back to March 2020 when the company terminated him for protesting at JFK8, despite being on a paid quarantine.
Smalls then sued Amazon, alleging that it fired him because he is black and had opposed discriminatory COVID-19 policies.
A federal judge this month dismissed the complaint.
“The people that Amazon is throwing in jail are fighting for better working conditions and should be treated with respect,” said Sienna Fontaine, general counsel for advocacy organization Make the Road New York.
The arrest would not stop him from organizing at the warehouse, Smalls said.
“I’m on my way there now,” he said, shortly before 10pm. “I’m going to bring more food for the night shift.”
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