Unions in this country are usually hot-button topics. You’re either for them or against them. There is usually no middle ground on this. The Northeast, Midwest, and Far West of the country are mostly the hotbed for unions in this country. There are two major outliers of deception when it comes to unions in our country and those are Amazon and a big box store I won’t mention in this review for personal reasons. Amazon is staunchly against them even in Northern states where they are the norm. Union documents the story of a group of employees who try to form a union a a Staten Island Amazon Fulfillment Center, JFK8 on Staten Island, New York.

As someone who worked for a big box store and has seen the working conditions, I know firsthand why these companies need unions. The problem is people like Jeff Bezos don’t want to part with all the billions of dollars he has. He knows if he allows unions to infiltrate his company he will start to lose his fortune little by little. This documents one situation of a union trying to form and Amazon fighting to stop it. It’s not the only time this has happened recently. It happened in Alabama as well that I know of. It got shut down as well after a lengthy battle. It was easier to fight Alabama though because it’s a right-to-work state. You hardly see unions in right-to-work states. 

The film mainly focuses on Chris Smalls, who is the leader of the potential ALU union and current or ex-Amazon employees. Angelika Maldonado, Connor Spence, Derrick Palmer, Jason Anthony, Brett Daniels, and Gerald Bryson. The documentary starts with them making and giving away hotdogs and hamburgers to men and women who will sign their petition so they can become an actual union. Some of this is out in the open across the street from the Amazon warehouse and other things are done very stealthily such as Zoom meetings. I saw the writing on the wall though. This was going to be an uphill battle for all involved. 

At the beginning of the documentary, the filmmakers Stephen Mang and Brett Story show the launching of the Blue Origin Flight into space with Jeff Bezos on board. This should have foretold the audience watching this film all they needed to know. This man lives in the one percent and he doesn’t want that lifestyle, which allowed him to build a spacecraft to go into space, that he’s been living. Men like him and Donald Trump think they are untouchable and nobody will stop them. He would put all his might into stopping a union from forming because it cuts into his profits. Once you let one start they will pop up everywhere. They are like roaches once you see one you see more. That is the power these people are dealing with. It is not easy to fight against.

The thing about Amazon is yes they pay better than anybody, but they demand a lot from their employees as well. There is a high-stress level that goes along with working for them. Everything is timed and breaks are far and in-between. People are watching your every move. An Amazon factory warehouse reminds me of the scene in Casino where Robert DeNiro’s character is explaining the inner workings of the casino and all the men and women who work there. There are a lot of moving pieces. That’s how complex one of these buildings is. It’s a well-oiled machine and they won’t let anybody get in their way.

I’ve seen many documentaries where people are going up against huge obstacles and have sometimes overcome the odds. When the deck is stacked against you like it is here though it’s hard to keep on fighting. I give these people a lot of credit though they were motivated individuals. These people tried all kinds of tactics to get their petition signed. As I’ve seen though people are afraid of bucking the system. They have what they think is a good thing until they find out it isn’t. I felt that way when I worked at a big box store multiple times. The time was enough though. I couldn’t do it anymore. My body couldn’t withstand the stress and pressure I was putting on it day in and day out. It didn’t help that I was getting older as well. I didn’t have the will to fight an uphill battle anymore. Eventually, everybody gives up when they’re going up against a juggernaut like Amazon.

The filmmaking of Union was pretty straightforward as far as documentaries go. The story was good, but I saw the writing on the wall. As a native Bostonian, I don’t usually like to root for New Yorkers, but Chris was someone I wanted to root for. He wasn’t what I would have expected. All these men and women had something I wanted to root for for that matter. They’re everyday people who felt like they were being mistreated and deserved a better life where people were watching their back and could defend them. The problem is it is hard to go up against such overwhelming odds and the power and money behind such an individual as Jeff Bezos. The filmmaker made this documentary as compelling as they could be given the circumstances,  but the outcome was always going to be the same as I was concerned. It is a good film though.

4 stars

Dan Skip Allen