From Socialist Core, we express our steadfast support for the Amazon workers who have begun a strike on December 19 demanding better working conditions, better wages and a decent work environment.
This strike, the largest against Amazon in its history, comes weeks after the election of far-right presidential candidate Donald Trump, who has threatened to fire thousands of government employees as soon as he takes office.
Since the outbreak of the pandemic and in its aftermath, the U.S. working class has been paying for the capitalist crisis with increasing overexploitation. The government of Joe Biden and the Democratic Party, instead of subsidizing the consumption of the family food basket in the face of its high prices, sustains the largest military budget on the planet and subsidizes the genocidal State of Israel so that it can continue the extermination of the Palestinian people.
In this context, the strike stands as a vital tool for the working class to paralyze its work and demonstrate its strength. In New York, the police intervened on behalf of the bosses to try to stop the strike but failed. The mobilization of Amazon workers shows that, united, the working class can defy adverse working conditions and fight against labor super-exploitation.
The strike is a response to the extreme exhaustion and low wages that persist at a company that generates billions of dollars in annual profits. We stand in solidarity with the demands of the workers who have significant support within the communities of New York and other cities.
We call for solidarity with the striking workers and encourage other unions to join this struggle, demanding better wages and fairer working conditions while denouncing the high prices of food and housing rents.
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Photo: Luis Feliz Leon