Unions push coordination
Labor strategists Peter Olney and Rand Wilson argued this week that coordinated 'labor tables'—regular inter‑union meetings—are essential to organizing Amazon and similar employers, helping unions share intel and avoid siloed campaigns. They stress routine communication and pooled resources as core tactics. (blog.pmpress.org)
The essay by Peter Olney and Rand Wilson first ran in Jacobin on February 12, 2026 and was republished on the PM Press blog on March 19, 2026. (jacobin.com ) (blog.pmpress.org ) Peter B. Olney is the retired Director of Organizing for the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and has worked as a labor organizer for more than 40 years. (engineering.rowan.edu ) Rand Wilson was the founding director of Massachusetts Jobs with Justice in 1992, served on Teamsters staff during the 1997 UPS campaign, and is a longtime labor communicator and organizer. (blog.pmpress.org ) The authors cite Amazon’s roughly 40 percent share of U.S. retail e‑commerce and argue the company’s vulnerabilities are concentrated in metropolitan “chokepoints” where delivery networks and local politics intersect. (jacobin.com ) Their piece identifies ten states — including California, Texas, Florida, Georgia, Arizona and New Jersey — as major Amazon employment clusters with 30,000 or more workers, and flags inbound “cross docks” as strategic nodes. (blog.pmpress.org ) The history of Amazon campaigns they reference includes the April 9, 2021 Bessemer tally in which 1,798 ballots were cast against and 738 for the RWDSU in the NLRB count. (nlrb.gov ) They contrast that loss with the April 1, 2022 JFK8 Staten Island result where 2,654 votes were cast for the Amazon Labor Union and 2,131 against, a win that certified a bargaining unit at the facility. (cbsnews.com ) The broader labor movement has already moved toward cross‑union efforts — AFL‑CIO leaders announced a Teamsters partnership to boost Amazon organizing on March 24, 2022, and Labor Notes documented a Teamsters‑led national push to pressure Amazon in October 2024. (news.bloomberglaw.com ) (labornotes.org )
