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GROUND CONTROL:
Three, two, one, zero.
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00:00:05,047 --> 00:00:07,799
We have commit,
and we have liftoff at 2:13.
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♪ percussive music ♪
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[people cheering]
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GIL SCOTT-HERON:
A rat done bit my sister Nell,
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with Whitey on the moon.
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Her face and arms began to swell,
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and Whitey's on the moon.
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MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.:
Out of the Protestant ethic
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of hard work and sacrifice,
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the fact is that capitalism was built
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on the exploitation
and suffering of Black slaves.
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SCOTT-HERON:
I can't pay no doctor bills,
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but Whitey's on the moon.
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Ten years from now, I'll be paying still,
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while Whitey's on the moon.
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You know, the man
just upped my rent last night,
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'cause Whitey's on the moon.
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No hot water, no toilets, no lights,
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but Whitey's on the moon.
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Was all that money I made last year
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for Whitey on the moon?
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How come I ain't got no money here?
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Hm, Whitey's on the moon.
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Jeff Bezos: I want to thank
every Amazon employee,
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and every Amazon customer,
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'cause you guys paid for all this.
[laughter]
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SCOTT-HERON:
To Whitey on the moon.
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♪ somber music ♪
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♪
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[wood creaking]
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NIKOLE HANNAH-JONES:
This is The 1619 Project.
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[waves crashing]
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NARRATOR:
It wasn't so long ago
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that ships were carrying eager passengers
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toward the shores of a new nation.
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Our forefathers were constructing
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the foundation of this nation
by interlocking, inseparably,
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00:02:03,332 --> 00:02:06,668
the blocks of our political
and economic freedom.
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♪ plucky music ♪
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♪ hip-hop music ♪
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♪ There's a war goin' on outside
no man is safe from ♪
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♪ You could run,
but you can't hide forever ♪
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NIKOLE:
Capitalism is complicated.
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Even the experts have a hard time
giving a digestible definition.
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Capitalism is one of those things
that we breathe in the air in this country
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but I don't feel like most of us
actually know what capitalism means.
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What is capitalism?
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Yeah, it's sort of one of these things
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if you looked it up in
Webster's Dictionary,
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it would say,
"A system of private property
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in which the free market
coordinates buyers and sellers."
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- NIKOLE: Which means?
- Yeah, it's not really clear.
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So we need a better
definition of capitalism.
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♪ In between two worlds
trying to get dough ♪
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♪ You know when the dough
get low, the jewels go ♪
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♪ But never that ♪
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NIKOLE:
When I think about capitalism,
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I think about the myth versus the reality.
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ROBIN D.G. KELLEY:
The myth of American capitalism
is that our system
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is based on individual
achievement, and effort.
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That you put in individual effort,
you'll get something back.
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And that is the myth.
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The reality is that capitalism is based
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on the exploitation of labor.
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It's that simple, it's that direct.
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- ♪ You better realize ♪
- ♪ Livin' this 'til the day that we die ♪
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♪ Survival of the fit,
only the strong survive ♪
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♪ The strong survive ♪
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♪ Livin' this 'til the day that we die ♪
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♪ Survival of the fit,
only the strong survive ♪
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♪ Livin' this 'til the day... ♪
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♪ tense music ♪
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NIKOLE:
America prides itself
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on being an exceptionally free
and prosperous nation
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built on individual liberty,
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and a brand of capitalism
that we are taught
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makes the American economic system
the greatest in the world.
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[people shouting]
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But the truth is, we live in a country
rife with inequality.
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One defined as much by its poverty,
as by its prosperity.
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In the last few years,
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the pandemic made
that harsh reality glaringly clear,
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as low-income Americans
died in disproportionate numbers,
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and millions of so-called
unskilled workers
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risked their lives on the front lines.
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And perhaps it was the death, or the fear,
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or the months in isolation,
but something shifted.
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Americans quit their jobs
in unprecedented numbers.
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A national fight
over labor rights ignited,
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and many of us just seem to be questioning
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why we have come to accept
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this particularly brutal
form of American capitalism,
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a reality that has been playing out
in my own family for generations.
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[crossing clanging]
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[train horn blares]
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[train rattling]
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[bus rumbling]
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♪ These last two dollars ♪
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♪ I'm not gonna lose ♪
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♪ I'm not gonna lose ♪
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NIKOLE:
Whenever I go home to Waterloo,
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I always try and stop by to see
my cousin, Chimiere Tillman.
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Not only can she hook up
some ribs and collard greens,
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but she's also warm, generous, smart,
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and the oldest daughter of my uncle,
Edward Tillman.
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Uncle Eddie, as we called him,
was my favorite uncle.
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He loved to laugh
and play practical jokes,
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and maybe it was because
he was only 16 years older,
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but he never got mad at me,
or disciplined me.
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As a teenager, I often
spent more time at his house
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than I did my own.
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And at every milestone, he was there,
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smiling that proud, toothy grin.
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MAN:
This is Mr. Edward Tillman.
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NIKOLE: When my dad died
when I was just 31 years old,
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Uncle Eddie and I grew even closer.
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And yet, just three years later,
he'd be dead too.
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Taken by cancer that had gone undiagnosed.
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Like a disproportionate number
of Black men in this country,
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both Chimiere's dad and my own
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died before they were old enough
to even qualify
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for the social security
they'd spent decades paying into.
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The deaths of both of our fathers,
both so young,
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both so close to each other,
was devastating to us.
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My dad was the oldest living brother.
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CHIMIERE TILLMAN:
Mm-hmm.
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And your dad and my dad
were extremely close,
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which is probably why
you and I are so close.
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Your dad used to live with us
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when we lived on Lafayette Street,
I remember.
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He stayed in the basement,
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and he had the red light,
or the blue light,
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and I always used to think it was so cool.
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Your dad never,
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except when he would
go out of town for work--
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don't start already.
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I'm not, I'm good.
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[Chimiere crying]
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- Fuck!
CHIMIERE: Sorry.
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We always do this.
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NIKOLE:
We cannot talk about our dads.
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Sorry.
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He just never moved
far away from my dad, right?
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Like even the house, in the white house,
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he was always so close.
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- We were always in walking distance
of each other.
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NIKOLE: My Uncle Eddie
gave his body to the job,
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but when he got sick,
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he couldn't even get the care
his body required,
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because like so many other Americans,
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the job he was working at the time
didn't offer health insurance.
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CHIMIERE:
He did a number of jobs.
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He worked in Marshalltown.
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It was a meat-packing plant.
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Dad worked at IFNY.
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They were working with steel and stuff,
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and he would come home just black,
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and just smelt like metal,
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and he would just hack up all that stuff.
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- I mean, I remember being there
when he would get off work,
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and he couldn't close his hands sometimes,
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because his hands
were so swollen and sore.
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Would wanna just lay on the hardwood
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because his back hurt so much.
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Or he would have you rub his feet.
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- Not realizing, as a kid,
what that type of labor
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was doing to his body.
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But he did what he had to do,
and I think a lot about how,
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when we look in, in our community,
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a lot of people say we don't work hard,
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and that the reason
we aren't able to get ahead
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is because we don't work hard.
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But our parents were like
the hardest-working people.
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♪
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My family story mirrors that
of so many other working
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and middle-class families in this country.
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Today, America stands
as one of the most unequal societies
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in the history of the world.
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In 2019, the top 10% of American families
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owned 76% of the nation's wealth.
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The middle 40% of families
owned 22% of the wealth,
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but the bottom 50%?
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They own just 1% of the nation's wealth.
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♪
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In America, capitalism is said
to take the low road,
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relying on low wages, longer workdays,
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and low rates of unionized workers.
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And if we promote a capitalism
that is uniquely brutal,
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a kind of winner-takes-all capitalism
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that allows such stunning
economic disparities,
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it is in part because it was founded
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on the lowest road of all,
chattel slavery.
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♪
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♪
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[clears throat]
Just tell us when.
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You doing it now?
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DIRECTOR:
I'm rolling.
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- Professor Rothman,
thank you for taking the time
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to speak with me.
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You know, the education I received
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has long said that
slavery wasn't profitable,
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00:09:53,135 --> 00:09:54,678
which never made sense to me.
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How did we come to think about slavery
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00:09:57,723 --> 00:10:01,602
as not being profitable,
as not being capitalist?
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00:10:01,602 --> 00:10:03,437
Well, we are living in a society
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00:10:03,437 --> 00:10:06,773
that has very aggressively
tried to erase those connections.
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00:10:06,773 --> 00:10:10,360
But Europeans didn't bring
12 to 15 million Africans
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00:10:10,360 --> 00:10:12,905
to the New World
just to be extra racist to them.
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00:10:12,905 --> 00:10:14,489
They brought them to the New World
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00:10:14,489 --> 00:10:16,283
so that they could exploit their labor,
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00:10:16,283 --> 00:10:18,744
so that they could turn
their bodies into commodities
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00:10:18,744 --> 00:10:21,455
at the same time that they
were coercing their work
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00:10:21,455 --> 00:10:25,542
in order to grow things
to sell to people far, far away.
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♪
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The slavery that developed in the colonies
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00:10:30,088 --> 00:10:32,174
of British North America,
and then would expand
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00:10:32,174 --> 00:10:34,426
in the new United States
of the 19th century
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00:10:34,426 --> 00:10:37,262
was a slavery whose history
can never be separated
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00:10:37,262 --> 00:10:38,764
from the history of capitalism.
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00:10:40,432 --> 00:10:42,559
NIKOLE: In this country,
we tend to think of slavery
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00:10:42,559 --> 00:10:44,436
as a Southern institution,
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00:10:44,436 --> 00:10:47,189
but slavery was
our nation's first big business.
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And it was slave-grown cotton
that fueled our early economy,
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00:10:50,484 --> 00:10:54,071
and helped turn a fledgling nation
into a global powerhouse.
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00:10:54,071 --> 00:10:55,739
[indistinct chatter]
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00:10:55,739 --> 00:10:59,117
On the cusp of the Civil War,
the 10 major cotton states
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00:10:59,117 --> 00:11:02,204
were producing 66% of the world's cotton,
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00:11:02,204 --> 00:11:06,333
and raw cotton accounted for
more than half of all US exports.
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00:11:08,460 --> 00:11:11,296
Explain for us
how the production of cotton
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00:11:11,296 --> 00:11:16,468
creates an entire financial industry
in the nascent United States.
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00:11:16,468 --> 00:11:18,428
So if we said, let's start with cotton
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00:11:18,428 --> 00:11:20,514
and say that this is a world
in which cotton
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00:11:20,514 --> 00:11:23,517
is the equivalent of oil
in the 20th century,
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00:11:23,517 --> 00:11:26,436
it is the thing that
employs millions of people
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00:11:26,436 --> 00:11:29,898
far, far away from the sites
of actual cotton production.
237
00:11:31,483 --> 00:11:33,527
New York banks,
and New York shipping companies,
238
00:11:33,527 --> 00:11:35,821
and New York insurance companies
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00:11:35,821 --> 00:11:38,156
are playing a crucial role
in the transport
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00:11:38,156 --> 00:11:41,702
and sale of slave-grown cotton
out of New Orleans.
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00:11:41,702 --> 00:11:44,913
If we think about the labor
that's taking place in New England,
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00:11:44,913 --> 00:11:46,707
in the factories of places like Lowell
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00:11:46,707 --> 00:11:49,710
that are turning
slave-grown cotton into cloth
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00:11:49,710 --> 00:11:51,545
that is sold throughout the United States.
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00:11:51,545 --> 00:11:53,505
If you don't have slave-grown cotton,
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00:11:53,505 --> 00:11:55,632
you don't have
an American industrial revolution.
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00:11:55,632 --> 00:11:57,676
It's as simple as that.
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00:11:57,676 --> 00:12:00,387
[machinery clanging]
249
00:12:00,387 --> 00:12:03,557
So how does this history of slavery
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00:12:03,557 --> 00:12:07,269
shape workplace culture
in today's America?
251
00:12:07,269 --> 00:12:11,315
- One of the problems we have
is the poverty of the English language
252
00:12:11,315 --> 00:12:14,026
when it comes to words
for labor exploitation.
253
00:12:14,026 --> 00:12:17,279
We have one really good word, slavery,
254
00:12:17,279 --> 00:12:21,241
and we can oftentimes
talk about the actual slavery,
255
00:12:21,241 --> 00:12:25,078
but then we also use that language
to talk about other forms of exploitation.
256
00:12:25,078 --> 00:12:27,206
Working for Uber is a new kind of slavery,
257
00:12:27,206 --> 00:12:29,249
or Amazon is the new slavery.
258
00:12:29,249 --> 00:12:31,460
And I'm always very hesitant
about that language.
259
00:12:31,460 --> 00:12:33,587
We need to, on the one hand,
260
00:12:33,587 --> 00:12:37,049
be very committed to the specificity
of actual enslavement,
261
00:12:37,049 --> 00:12:38,800
while at the same time,
262
00:12:38,800 --> 00:12:41,595
recognizing that future iterations
of labor exploitation
263
00:12:41,595 --> 00:12:43,597
owed a great deal to that past.
264
00:12:43,597 --> 00:12:45,766
And we are living in the wake of a system
265
00:12:45,766 --> 00:12:49,144
that has long sought
various kinds of coercive mechanisms
266
00:12:49,144 --> 00:12:52,272
to hold people in place,
and to extract their labor.
267
00:12:52,272 --> 00:12:54,733
♪ tense music ♪
268
00:13:03,700 --> 00:13:06,328
[alarm ringing]
269
00:13:12,417 --> 00:13:15,337
DERRICK PALMER: I've been,
the past six years, at Amazon.
270
00:13:16,338 --> 00:13:19,174
I was working at various
different warehouses,
271
00:13:19,174 --> 00:13:20,509
mostly temp jobs.
272
00:13:23,720 --> 00:13:25,597
Only had a high school diploma,
273
00:13:25,597 --> 00:13:28,684
so it was kind of limited
to what jobs I can get.
274
00:13:30,185 --> 00:13:33,647
And my mom, she told me about Amazon.
275
00:13:35,399 --> 00:13:38,318
NIKOLE:
Amazon is the second-largest
employer in the country.
276
00:13:38,318 --> 00:13:41,655
The company began
as an upstart online bookstore,
277
00:13:41,655 --> 00:13:44,116
but today, Amazon is part
of our everyday lives,
278
00:13:44,116 --> 00:13:46,952
and is worth $1.3 trillion,
279
00:13:46,952 --> 00:13:50,289
making it a shining example
of American capitalism.
280
00:13:51,957 --> 00:13:54,626
Our brand of capitalism
thrives on extracting labor
281
00:13:54,626 --> 00:13:56,044
for maximum profit.
282
00:13:56,044 --> 00:13:57,754
And perhaps no modern company
283
00:13:57,754 --> 00:14:00,632
has perfected that model
better than Amazon.
284
00:14:00,632 --> 00:14:03,343
[truck rumbling]
285
00:14:06,555 --> 00:14:08,974
[box rattling]
286
00:14:10,559 --> 00:14:13,854
DERRICK: One of the first roles
that I did was pick.
287
00:14:13,854 --> 00:14:16,273
Basically, I'm picking
the customer orders.
288
00:14:16,273 --> 00:14:19,735
Tote running, what you have to do is
grab a stack of yellow totes,
289
00:14:19,735 --> 00:14:22,237
and wheel this cart
into every pick station
290
00:14:22,237 --> 00:14:24,948
so that every picker has totes to use.
291
00:14:25,657 --> 00:14:27,242
[scanner beeping]
292
00:14:27,242 --> 00:14:28,327
I've done it all.
293
00:14:29,870 --> 00:14:32,372
NIKOLE: Derrick Palmer
works at the JFK8 facility
294
00:14:32,372 --> 00:14:36,210
on Staten Island,
and his longevity on the job is rare.
295
00:14:36,210 --> 00:14:38,378
Amazon is known for its high turnover rate
296
00:14:38,378 --> 00:14:41,340
amongst hourly workers,
with most warehouse employees
297
00:14:41,340 --> 00:14:43,592
quitting or getting fired within a year.
298
00:14:45,928 --> 00:14:48,096
This high turnover rate exists, in part,
299
00:14:48,096 --> 00:14:51,308
because the work at Amazon
is so physically demanding.
300
00:14:51,308 --> 00:14:53,936
In addition, it can also be dangerous.
301
00:14:55,229 --> 00:14:58,148
- An investigation is underway
after a deadly accident
302
00:14:58,148 --> 00:15:00,859
at an Amazon fulfillment center
in Plainfield.
303
00:15:00,859 --> 00:15:03,153
REPORTER:
Workers complained of breathing issues,
304
00:15:03,153 --> 00:15:05,531
and burning in their eyes and throats.
305
00:15:06,073 --> 00:15:09,117
NIKOLE:
Amazon's serious injury rate
is nearly 80% higher
306
00:15:09,117 --> 00:15:11,787
than the rest of the warehouse industry.
307
00:15:11,787 --> 00:15:14,498
In fact, in 2022, a federal agency
308
00:15:14,498 --> 00:15:16,750
opened an investigation into Amazon
309
00:15:16,750 --> 00:15:19,711
after three workers
reportedly died in New Jersey
310
00:15:19,711 --> 00:15:21,338
in a span of just three weeks.
311
00:15:24,216 --> 00:15:25,717
[scanner beeps]
312
00:15:25,717 --> 00:15:28,345
DERRICK:
The productivity metrics are very high.
313
00:15:28,345 --> 00:15:31,765
It's a very fast-paced environment.
314
00:15:31,765 --> 00:15:34,434
Management is on top of you
getting those numbers,
315
00:15:34,434 --> 00:15:36,228
'cause at the end of the day,
316
00:15:36,228 --> 00:15:38,438
it really boils down to the numbers.
317
00:15:39,147 --> 00:15:40,941
Like, what can you do to make sure
318
00:15:40,941 --> 00:15:42,860
that this product
is getting out the building?
319
00:15:42,860 --> 00:15:44,570
♪
320
00:15:44,570 --> 00:15:46,488
If you're not performing,
321
00:15:46,488 --> 00:15:48,615
ultimately it's gonna lead
to you getting terminated.
322
00:15:50,242 --> 00:15:52,870
Amazon's motto,
they say, safety is number one,
323
00:15:52,870 --> 00:15:55,914
but if you are a worker at Amazon,
324
00:15:55,914 --> 00:15:58,792
you know that productivity is number one.
325
00:16:00,085 --> 00:16:02,087
NIKOLE:
Since this nation's founding,
326
00:16:02,087 --> 00:16:05,048
American capitalism
has pushed productivity for profit
327
00:16:05,048 --> 00:16:06,925
at the expense of human beings.
328
00:16:08,427 --> 00:16:10,888
Slaveholders employed unspeakable violence
329
00:16:10,888 --> 00:16:12,764
to increase cotton production,
330
00:16:12,764 --> 00:16:15,100
and when they wanted
to grow their operations,
331
00:16:15,100 --> 00:16:17,060
they mortgaged the actual bodies
332
00:16:17,060 --> 00:16:18,937
of their enslaved for capital.
333
00:16:20,314 --> 00:16:23,066
The bodies of Black people
became a business asset,
334
00:16:23,066 --> 00:16:25,777
valued alongside
a wagon to carry products,
335
00:16:25,777 --> 00:16:27,654
or a mule to help work the land.
336
00:16:29,781 --> 00:16:31,617
At the time of the Civil War,
337
00:16:31,617 --> 00:16:34,661
the value of the four million
enslaved people in America
338
00:16:34,661 --> 00:16:36,622
was about seven times the net worth
339
00:16:36,622 --> 00:16:38,624
of all the nation's banks,
340
00:16:38,624 --> 00:16:41,543
and worth more than
all of our nation's factories
341
00:16:41,543 --> 00:16:43,045
and railroads combined.
342
00:16:43,045 --> 00:16:45,088
[train rattling]
343
00:16:45,672 --> 00:16:47,591
And like any big business owners,
344
00:16:47,591 --> 00:16:51,303
slaveholders made sure to keep track
of their most valuable assets.
345
00:16:51,303 --> 00:16:53,388
To do this, they perfected intricate
346
00:16:53,388 --> 00:16:56,517
and sophisticated
standardized record-keeping systems.
347
00:16:59,853 --> 00:17:02,189
Tell me where we are right now.
348
00:17:02,189 --> 00:17:03,732
What is the space that we're in?
349
00:17:03,732 --> 00:17:05,234
- Well, we're here
in the special collections
350
00:17:05,234 --> 00:17:07,653
at LSU Library in Baton Rouge,
351
00:17:07,653 --> 00:17:09,488
looking at a bunch of materials
352
00:17:09,488 --> 00:17:12,491
about how planters managed
cotton-picking on plantations.
353
00:17:12,491 --> 00:17:14,493
So what is this here?
354
00:17:14,493 --> 00:17:16,703
It looks just like the composition books
355
00:17:16,703 --> 00:17:19,331
that we see today
that I bought for my daughter
356
00:17:19,331 --> 00:17:23,168
with the little speckled cover,
and the, the binding.
357
00:17:23,168 --> 00:17:25,170
What are we looking at?
358
00:17:25,170 --> 00:17:26,964
CAITLIN ROSENTHAL:
So, this is one of the first
359
00:17:26,964 --> 00:17:29,883
highly standardized
plantation account books,
360
00:17:29,883 --> 00:17:32,010
where you have each
person's name down the side,
361
00:17:32,010 --> 00:17:34,763
and then Monday through Saturday,
six days a week,
362
00:17:34,763 --> 00:17:37,891
you have the amount of pounds of cotton
that they're picking.
363
00:17:39,017 --> 00:17:43,397
So Scott picks 119 pounds, 132 pounds,
364
00:17:43,397 --> 00:17:46,191
137 pounds, 134 pounds,
365
00:17:46,191 --> 00:17:48,694
and that tallies up to 522 pounds
366
00:17:48,694 --> 00:17:50,028
over the course of the week.
367
00:17:52,197 --> 00:17:55,284
But the other thing that's
amazing about these records
368
00:17:55,284 --> 00:17:58,412
is that you always know
where every person is.
369
00:17:58,412 --> 00:18:01,164
If they're not picking,
then you know that they're sick.
370
00:18:01,164 --> 00:18:03,417
Sometimes you see a woman gives birth,
371
00:18:03,417 --> 00:18:06,170
and they're picking almost up until
when the child is born.
372
00:18:06,170 --> 00:18:09,214
And the planter knows when they're there,
and when they're gone.
373
00:18:09,214 --> 00:18:11,383
Sometimes you see it's marked runaway,
374
00:18:11,383 --> 00:18:14,344
so you know someone has escaped
from a plantation.
375
00:18:14,344 --> 00:18:17,306
There's the kind of imaginary version
376
00:18:17,306 --> 00:18:19,600
of the Southern plantation
that we've constructed
377
00:18:19,600 --> 00:18:22,269
that's old and kind of slow.
378
00:18:22,269 --> 00:18:25,480
And instead,
this is like an assembly line.
379
00:18:25,480 --> 00:18:28,317
[belt rattling]
380
00:18:32,321 --> 00:18:35,032
DERRICK:
I've picked, on an average,
381
00:18:35,032 --> 00:18:37,659
350 to 400 items an hour.
382
00:18:38,452 --> 00:18:42,039
They push you to pick 400.
383
00:18:44,166 --> 00:18:46,001
If you're on the Amazon website,
384
00:18:46,001 --> 00:18:48,378
you put the item in your cart, boom,
385
00:18:48,378 --> 00:18:50,923
literally pops up
on your screen as a picker.
386
00:18:52,549 --> 00:18:54,009
But when you're looking at the screen,
387
00:18:54,009 --> 00:18:56,220
it has something called tag time.
388
00:18:56,220 --> 00:18:58,972
How long it takes you to scan this item.
389
00:19:00,516 --> 00:19:04,561
And you're looking at this
tag time for the entire shift,
390
00:19:04,561 --> 00:19:08,148
and you have to keep it
at seven, seven seconds.
391
00:19:11,735 --> 00:19:14,154
Ultimately,
throughout the day, 4,000 items,
392
00:19:14,154 --> 00:19:17,741
I've picked even 5,000 items
393
00:19:17,741 --> 00:19:19,076
in a 10-hour shift.
394
00:19:24,373 --> 00:19:27,209
[birds chirping]
395
00:19:27,209 --> 00:19:29,503
NIKOLE:
Not only did enslavers
meticulously monitor
396
00:19:29,503 --> 00:19:32,297
the whereabouts
and productivity of the enslaved,
397
00:19:32,297 --> 00:19:36,260
they also tracked the monetary value
assessed to each enslaved individual.
398
00:19:37,594 --> 00:19:39,638
And what is this tracking here?
399
00:19:39,638 --> 00:19:42,057
It says value of commencement of the year,
400
00:19:42,057 --> 00:19:43,642
and value at the end of the year.
401
00:19:43,642 --> 00:19:44,768
And it looks like for many of these,
402
00:19:44,768 --> 00:19:46,603
the value has gone up?
403
00:19:47,771 --> 00:19:51,692
- So for example, here we have John,
who's age 70.
404
00:19:51,692 --> 00:19:54,194
At the beginning of the year, $50.
405
00:19:54,194 --> 00:19:56,655
The end of the year, $75.
406
00:19:58,448 --> 00:20:01,910
This is a sign that the market
is going up overall,
407
00:20:01,910 --> 00:20:04,830
but the market isn't the only thing
they're taking into account.
408
00:20:04,830 --> 00:20:07,708
They're also taking into account
age and skill.
409
00:20:07,708 --> 00:20:09,710
If you look to the bottom of the list,
410
00:20:09,710 --> 00:20:11,503
you see the names
of all the children and babies
411
00:20:11,503 --> 00:20:13,422
on the plantation.
412
00:20:13,422 --> 00:20:16,049
So the left side is males,
the right side is females.
413
00:20:16,049 --> 00:20:19,094
And here we have the youngest
on the plantation,
414
00:20:19,094 --> 00:20:22,848
Rose, six months,
$75 at the beginning of the year,
415
00:20:22,848 --> 00:20:24,808
$100 at the end of the year.
416
00:20:26,268 --> 00:20:28,937
- It's an emotional thing
to see someone's,
417
00:20:28,937 --> 00:20:33,358
a human being's value,
is less than a broodmare.
418
00:20:33,358 --> 00:20:36,862
To actually see it on the,
on the page.
419
00:20:38,405 --> 00:20:40,949
And we know that enslaved people
420
00:20:40,949 --> 00:20:43,327
were really well aware
of their own values.
421
00:20:43,327 --> 00:20:44,828
Like, they knew that the planters
422
00:20:44,828 --> 00:20:47,956
were thinking of them in these terms.
423
00:20:49,082 --> 00:20:51,335
And, I mean,
they also knew that they could
424
00:20:51,335 --> 00:20:53,712
affect their value, um.
425
00:20:55,214 --> 00:20:58,175
That, you know,
how they presented themselves
426
00:20:58,175 --> 00:21:00,761
could increase their value
or decrease their value.
427
00:21:00,761 --> 00:21:02,554
And so, we know that they used this
428
00:21:02,554 --> 00:21:05,057
to try to shape the course of their lives.
429
00:21:05,057 --> 00:21:07,476
♪
430
00:21:11,396 --> 00:21:14,233
NIKOLE: And even today,
our value as human beings
431
00:21:14,233 --> 00:21:18,070
is still all too often connected
to what our bodies can do for profit.
432
00:21:19,321 --> 00:21:21,031
- You know,
if I'm performing at a high level,
433
00:21:21,031 --> 00:21:23,492
you shouldn't come to me and say,
"Hey, can you do more?"
434
00:21:23,492 --> 00:21:25,536
I've done what you told me to do.
435
00:21:25,536 --> 00:21:27,329
I've exceeded expectations.
436
00:21:27,329 --> 00:21:29,623
I shouldn't have to be pushed,
and pushed, and pushed.
437
00:21:33,418 --> 00:21:36,129
[train rattling]
438
00:21:39,925 --> 00:21:42,094
NIKOLE:
My uncle Eddie
desperately wanted
439
00:21:42,094 --> 00:21:43,637
a better life for his kids.
440
00:21:43,637 --> 00:21:46,265
He even scraped together money
to send Chimiere
441
00:21:46,265 --> 00:21:48,809
on a high school trip to France one year.
442
00:21:48,809 --> 00:21:50,727
But like so many Black Americans,
443
00:21:50,727 --> 00:21:52,813
no matter how hard my uncle worked,
444
00:21:52,813 --> 00:21:54,982
he could never seem to get ahead.
445
00:21:54,982 --> 00:21:58,151
A leaky roof or a medical bill
set the family back,
446
00:21:58,151 --> 00:22:00,362
and drained his meager savings.
447
00:22:00,362 --> 00:22:02,239
And so after high school,
448
00:22:02,239 --> 00:22:05,742
that meant my cousin Chimiere
had to make tough choices,
449
00:22:05,742 --> 00:22:08,537
her young dreams snatched away by reality.
450
00:22:10,622 --> 00:22:14,042
- Going to college was something
that I wanted to do,
451
00:22:14,042 --> 00:22:17,004
but I decided I couldn't go to college,
452
00:22:17,004 --> 00:22:18,839
and I couldn't work at the same time.
453
00:22:18,839 --> 00:22:20,632
I couldn't deal with both.
454
00:22:20,632 --> 00:22:22,676
I wanted to be independent,
455
00:22:22,676 --> 00:22:24,803
so I couldn't have my mom and dad saying,
456
00:22:24,803 --> 00:22:28,515
"Hey Mom, I need this,"
or, "Hey Dad, I need this."
457
00:22:28,515 --> 00:22:30,851
I mean, I still have younger siblings
458
00:22:30,851 --> 00:22:32,728
they still had to take care of.
459
00:22:32,728 --> 00:22:36,273
- So let's talk about the work
that you have done,
460
00:22:36,273 --> 00:22:38,650
and what kind of income.
461
00:22:38,650 --> 00:22:41,612
I mean, you've had a job as long as, um?
462
00:22:42,362 --> 00:22:44,364
Eighteen years.
463
00:22:44,364 --> 00:22:46,825
I worked at Catherines,
it was a plus-size women's store.
464
00:22:47,492 --> 00:22:50,704
I started there in 2002,
465
00:22:50,704 --> 00:22:54,416
and they thought they were doing something
when they gave me 5.15.
466
00:22:54,416 --> 00:22:56,293
They didn't have a lot of jobs out there,
467
00:22:56,293 --> 00:22:59,755
so you took what you got,
and you work what you have.
468
00:22:59,755 --> 00:23:05,052
After being there 15 years,
I still didn't make $10.
469
00:23:06,094 --> 00:23:09,806
- So you were working
for 15 years in a job,
470
00:23:09,806 --> 00:23:11,475
but now you have children,
471
00:23:11,475 --> 00:23:13,936
and you're not even making $10 an hour.
472
00:23:13,936 --> 00:23:17,814
What was your paycheck,
and what were your bills?
473
00:23:17,814 --> 00:23:19,316
[Chimiere chuckles]
474
00:23:19,316 --> 00:23:22,528
So, I would be happy when I got a
475
00:23:23,445 --> 00:23:26,698
a 900, or a $1,000 check.
476
00:23:26,698 --> 00:23:27,783
That's two weeks.
477
00:23:28,909 --> 00:23:31,662
Mind you, my rent is $700.
478
00:23:31,662 --> 00:23:33,205
I have a old house.
479
00:23:33,205 --> 00:23:35,624
My light bill runs me 240 a month.
480
00:23:35,624 --> 00:23:38,126
Pray that the water bill
didn't come out that month.
481
00:23:39,711 --> 00:23:42,130
I didn't get to have anything
until the second check.
482
00:23:42,130 --> 00:23:44,299
So that first check of the month
483
00:23:44,299 --> 00:23:46,468
went to every bill that I had,
484
00:23:46,468 --> 00:23:49,054
and I lived off my credit cards.
485
00:23:49,054 --> 00:23:50,931
♪
486
00:23:50,931 --> 00:23:53,433
NIKOLE:
My cousin Chimiere is hardly alone.
487
00:23:53,433 --> 00:23:55,060
Almost half of the country's workers
488
00:23:55,060 --> 00:23:57,604
between the ages of 18 and 64
489
00:23:57,604 --> 00:23:59,481
are employed in low-wage jobs.
490
00:24:00,816 --> 00:24:03,986
But it is Black Americans
that suffer the greatest poverty,
491
00:24:03,986 --> 00:24:05,153
and the lowest wealth.
492
00:24:06,321 --> 00:24:09,741
More than 150 years
after the end of slavery,
493
00:24:09,741 --> 00:24:12,870
an average Black family
holds about 12 cents of wealth
494
00:24:12,870 --> 00:24:15,747
for every dollar of wealth
held by an average white family.
495
00:24:17,624 --> 00:24:19,501
In a country whose economic system
496
00:24:19,501 --> 00:24:22,588
was founded on the buying
and selling of Black people,
497
00:24:22,588 --> 00:24:25,966
race and capitalism
will always be inseparable.
498
00:24:25,966 --> 00:24:28,552
♪
499
00:24:32,723 --> 00:24:35,017
DIRECTOR:
Okay, B cam marker, take one.
500
00:24:39,021 --> 00:24:42,441
- You said that capitalism
is structured through difference.
501
00:24:42,441 --> 00:24:43,692
What do you mean by that?
502
00:24:43,692 --> 00:24:46,153
It means that value
503
00:24:47,487 --> 00:24:51,575
and wages, or how people are compensated,
504
00:24:51,575 --> 00:24:54,453
is determined by differences
505
00:24:54,453 --> 00:24:57,539
by race, by gender, by age.
506
00:24:57,539 --> 00:25:00,167
So capitalism is designed
507
00:25:00,167 --> 00:25:03,962
to exploit labor and human beings,
508
00:25:03,962 --> 00:25:06,924
but all people are not exploited equally.
509
00:25:06,924 --> 00:25:08,467
ROBIN: Right.
510
00:25:08,467 --> 00:25:12,638
- So you call this, and others call this,
racial capitalism.
511
00:25:13,514 --> 00:25:15,349
Explain for people
512
00:25:15,349 --> 00:25:16,850
who've never heard that
term before what that means.
513
00:25:16,850 --> 00:25:18,894
Racial capitalism is capitalism.
514
00:25:18,894 --> 00:25:20,270
It's one and the same.
515
00:25:20,270 --> 00:25:22,648
It means that there's no such thing
516
00:25:22,648 --> 00:25:26,777
as a race-neutral capitalism
in the United States.
517
00:25:27,778 --> 00:25:29,279
It just doesn't exist.
518
00:25:30,239 --> 00:25:32,324
♪
519
00:25:32,324 --> 00:25:33,951
NIKOLE:
Despite applying multiple times
520
00:25:33,951 --> 00:25:35,536
for management positions,
521
00:25:35,536 --> 00:25:37,496
Derrick was unable to get a promotion
522
00:25:37,496 --> 00:25:39,206
after six years on the job.
523
00:25:40,624 --> 00:25:42,501
DERRICK:
I'm looking at my skillset, you know,
524
00:25:42,501 --> 00:25:44,711
what I've brought to the company,
what I've done for them,
525
00:25:44,711 --> 00:25:47,756
as far as training other people,
learning different roles,
526
00:25:47,756 --> 00:25:51,093
performing at a high level,
and not being rewarded for that.
527
00:25:51,093 --> 00:25:54,555
And then having someone
who's been with the company
528
00:25:54,555 --> 00:25:58,433
for months compared to my six years
529
00:25:58,433 --> 00:26:02,187
being moved up,
and they just so happen to be white.
530
00:26:02,187 --> 00:26:04,231
How could you not look at that
531
00:26:04,231 --> 00:26:06,775
and think that that's
not a defining factor
532
00:26:06,775 --> 00:26:08,485
as to why you didn't move up?
533
00:26:09,653 --> 00:26:11,405
[bus rumbling]
534
00:26:11,405 --> 00:26:14,157
NIKOLE:
At the JFK8 facility
on Staten Island,
535
00:26:14,157 --> 00:26:17,202
more than 60% of
the warehouse workers like Derrick
536
00:26:17,202 --> 00:26:19,121
are either Black or Latino,
537
00:26:19,121 --> 00:26:21,957
while more than 70% of those
in management positions
538
00:26:21,957 --> 00:26:23,292
are white or Asian.
539
00:26:24,501 --> 00:26:27,963
And nationally, it only gets more stark
at the top of the ladder.
540
00:26:27,963 --> 00:26:30,841
2021 Amazon workforce data shows
541
00:26:30,841 --> 00:26:33,302
that only 10%
of the company's senior leaders
542
00:26:33,302 --> 00:26:37,181
are Black and Latino,
while 66.4% are white.
543
00:26:41,643 --> 00:26:44,062
PHOTOGRAPHER:
One, two, three.
544
00:26:45,397 --> 00:26:47,566
[people applauding]
545
00:26:47,566 --> 00:26:52,070
- We are thrilled that Amazon
is doing business in Alabama.
546
00:26:52,070 --> 00:26:54,489
This is their second facility,
547
00:26:54,489 --> 00:26:57,117
and their first fulfillment center.
548
00:26:57,117 --> 00:27:00,329
♪
549
00:27:00,871 --> 00:27:04,791
NIKOLE:
Amazon broke ground
in Bessemer, Alabama, in 2018.
550
00:27:04,791 --> 00:27:06,502
A city just outside of Birmingham,
551
00:27:06,502 --> 00:27:08,795
Bessemer is more than 70% Black,
552
00:27:08,795 --> 00:27:12,174
and more than 25% of the population
lives in poverty.
553
00:27:14,009 --> 00:27:16,929
So when the giant arrived
offering an hourly rate
554
00:27:16,929 --> 00:27:19,389
that was more than double
Alabama's minimum wage
555
00:27:19,389 --> 00:27:23,185
of $7.25 an hour,
many in the region saw it
556
00:27:23,185 --> 00:27:24,978
as a much-needed opportunity.
557
00:27:27,773 --> 00:27:29,733
PRODUCER: Cell phones
are on silent right now,
558
00:27:29,733 --> 00:27:30,901
that would be great.
559
00:27:30,901 --> 00:27:32,694
- Ready? Okay.
PRODUCER: Yeah.
560
00:27:32,694 --> 00:27:35,614
So, let's talk about when
did you first start hearing
561
00:27:35,614 --> 00:27:39,243
that there was going to be
an Amazon plant here in Bessemer?
562
00:27:39,243 --> 00:27:42,663
I believe it was maybe early 2019.
563
00:27:42,663 --> 00:27:44,581
My understanding is a lot of people
564
00:27:44,581 --> 00:27:47,042
were just excited, because
everyone shops at Amazon,
565
00:27:47,042 --> 00:27:49,044
and you just have this image in your head
566
00:27:49,044 --> 00:27:50,337
of what it might be like.
567
00:27:50,337 --> 00:27:51,922
- Mm-hmm.
- What was the reality?
568
00:27:53,006 --> 00:27:56,218
The reality is that it looks pretty.
569
00:27:56,760 --> 00:27:59,763
Um, you shop there,
you get packages at the door,
570
00:27:59,763 --> 00:28:02,516
but it's grueling work.
571
00:28:02,516 --> 00:28:05,644
- How quickly did your
excitement about this job
572
00:28:05,644 --> 00:28:08,105
turn into regret?
573
00:28:09,106 --> 00:28:10,774
The third day.
574
00:28:10,774 --> 00:28:12,276
Three days?
575
00:28:12,276 --> 00:28:16,572
- When I was walking out,
and I was, um, limping.
576
00:28:16,572 --> 00:28:17,781
Why?
577
00:28:17,781 --> 00:28:20,325
- My knees were hurting,
my feet were hurting.
578
00:28:20,325 --> 00:28:22,828
When you're working
in the store department,
579
00:28:22,828 --> 00:28:24,329
you not only walk the stairs,
580
00:28:24,329 --> 00:28:26,790
but there's a step stool in your station
581
00:28:26,790 --> 00:28:31,753
that you have to walk every day
to go up to store items.
582
00:28:31,753 --> 00:28:35,174
I told my sister, "I don't
think I'm coming back here."
583
00:28:35,174 --> 00:28:36,717
She said, "Oh, it gets worse."
584
00:28:37,843 --> 00:28:40,762
But eventually, I realized, you know what?
585
00:28:40,762 --> 00:28:43,765
Something needs to take place here,
and I'm not gonna leave.
586
00:28:43,765 --> 00:28:46,435
I'm gonna stay and work together
587
00:28:46,435 --> 00:28:48,353
to try to get some resolution.
588
00:28:48,353 --> 00:28:50,814
- Your mother talked to you
about independence at work,
589
00:28:50,814 --> 00:28:53,692
and this was something that
she wanted to instill in you.
590
00:28:53,692 --> 00:28:55,027
Can you talk about that?
591
00:28:55,027 --> 00:28:58,155
JENNIFER BATES: Growing up,
my mom used to talk to us about working.
592
00:28:58,155 --> 00:28:59,740
That the world is not free.
593
00:28:59,740 --> 00:29:01,992
You have to work to get your bills paid.
594
00:29:01,992 --> 00:29:03,577
She didn't have enough,
595
00:29:03,577 --> 00:29:05,996
but she made sure that
we had what we needed,
596
00:29:05,996 --> 00:29:08,332
and she always told us
that we had to work.
597
00:29:08,332 --> 00:29:11,418
- What kind of work did
your mother do growing up?
598
00:29:11,418 --> 00:29:13,879
JENNIFER: She worked
at Mary Manufacturing.
599
00:29:13,879 --> 00:29:15,088
That was one of the jobs.
600
00:29:15,088 --> 00:29:16,798
It was a sewing coat factory.
601
00:29:16,798 --> 00:29:19,885
She also worked at a grocery store.
602
00:29:19,885 --> 00:29:21,345
That was her second job.
603
00:29:21,345 --> 00:29:23,472
- So she worked a lot.
- Mm-hmm, she did.
604
00:29:23,472 --> 00:29:26,850
I knew that she had to do it
in order for us
605
00:29:26,850 --> 00:29:29,770
to have food on the table,
and clothes to wear.
606
00:29:29,770 --> 00:29:31,313
It seems like your mom
607
00:29:31,313 --> 00:29:34,399
was instilling these messages
of hard work,
608
00:29:34,399 --> 00:29:38,195
but it also seems like society
was sending a message too,
609
00:29:38,195 --> 00:29:40,239
because of course, we're told in America
610
00:29:40,239 --> 00:29:42,449
that if you work hard,
611
00:29:42,449 --> 00:29:43,992
you'll be able to get ahead,
612
00:29:43,992 --> 00:29:46,995
and yet you're seeing your mother working,
613
00:29:46,995 --> 00:29:49,456
and that's not coming true for her.
614
00:29:49,456 --> 00:29:52,209
- And that's the same thing
for a lot of us.
615
00:29:52,209 --> 00:29:55,587
As I get older,
we talk about this all the time.
616
00:29:55,587 --> 00:30:00,342
Why is it that you work all your life?
617
00:30:00,342 --> 00:30:03,595
And to get to my mother's age,
she has to look back and say,
618
00:30:05,097 --> 00:30:06,807
"All the money that I've made in my life,
619
00:30:06,807 --> 00:30:09,226
I'm still not ahead in life."
620
00:30:11,186 --> 00:30:14,022
And it's like,
it's an ongoing thing for us all.
621
00:30:14,022 --> 00:30:17,776
So that was the reason
why I've been fighting
622
00:30:17,776 --> 00:30:19,319
for a long time,
623
00:30:19,319 --> 00:30:22,114
for a lot of people,
and not just immediate.
624
00:30:22,114 --> 00:30:26,743
Because I don't-- to me, I'm like,
do y'all even see what's happening?
625
00:30:30,205 --> 00:30:32,749
♪ somber music ♪
626
00:30:34,042 --> 00:30:37,171
NIKOLE:
Life for so many Americans
is a daily struggle.
627
00:30:37,171 --> 00:30:39,047
And yet, when we question how can there be
628
00:30:39,047 --> 00:30:42,301
so much financial suffering
in such a wealthy nation,
629
00:30:42,301 --> 00:30:45,637
we're often told, hey,
this is a capitalist society.
630
00:30:49,141 --> 00:30:52,477
But all capitalist societies
are not the same.
631
00:30:52,477 --> 00:30:54,688
America has the stingiest
social safety net
632
00:30:54,688 --> 00:30:56,273
of the Western democracies
633
00:30:56,273 --> 00:30:58,817
when it comes to benefits
like unemployment,
634
00:30:58,817 --> 00:31:00,903
parental leave, and paid time off.
635
00:31:00,903 --> 00:31:04,281
My uncle died, in part,
because we are the only
636
00:31:04,281 --> 00:31:07,826
Western industrialized nation
without a right to healthcare.
637
00:31:09,119 --> 00:31:10,746
And as a pandemic laid bare
638
00:31:10,746 --> 00:31:13,332
the inequities of an economic system
639
00:31:13,332 --> 00:31:15,959
where low-wage workers
were literally dying
640
00:31:15,959 --> 00:31:18,879
to make some corporations record profits,
641
00:31:18,879 --> 00:31:21,256
workers of all races began to unite
642
00:31:21,256 --> 00:31:23,967
in an unprecedented demand for change.
643
00:31:25,135 --> 00:31:27,095
REPORTER:
10,000 John Deere workers
644
00:31:27,095 --> 00:31:29,097
are already striking right now,
645
00:31:29,097 --> 00:31:33,143
employees demanding
higher wages and better benefits.
646
00:31:33,143 --> 00:31:35,062
- Kellogg's workers
in central Pennsylvania
647
00:31:35,062 --> 00:31:37,648
are on the picket line,
joining thousands of workers
648
00:31:37,648 --> 00:31:39,733
in Nebraska, Tennessee, and Michigan
649
00:31:39,733 --> 00:31:42,236
as they strike over wage disparities.
650
00:31:42,236 --> 00:31:43,737
- What they doing here?
- Nothing!
651
00:31:43,737 --> 00:31:45,239
- Nothing.
- They playing us here.
652
00:31:45,239 --> 00:31:46,615
What they doin' 'bout our healthcare?
653
00:31:46,615 --> 00:31:48,659
NIKOLE: By March of 2020,
Derrick and his colleagues
654
00:31:48,659 --> 00:31:51,537
at JFK8 decided they were risking too much
655
00:31:51,537 --> 00:31:53,455
to not fight back.
656
00:31:53,455 --> 00:31:55,249
As many as 100 employees
657
00:31:55,249 --> 00:31:58,919
at amazon.com's
Staten Island fulfillment center
658
00:31:58,919 --> 00:32:02,172
in New York City, known as JFK8,
659
00:32:02,172 --> 00:32:05,217
walk off the job, alleging the company
660
00:32:05,217 --> 00:32:08,804
is mishandling its response
to the COVID-19 outbreak.
661
00:32:08,804 --> 00:32:10,305
You know, my heart was pumping,
662
00:32:10,305 --> 00:32:11,932
but I was like, no, we gotta do it.
663
00:32:11,932 --> 00:32:13,225
We have to do this.
664
00:32:13,225 --> 00:32:14,852
We just went on that bullhorn,
665
00:32:14,852 --> 00:32:17,312
and we told them
everything that was going on.
666
00:32:17,312 --> 00:32:20,691
We told them how Amazon
was hiding the amount of cases
667
00:32:20,691 --> 00:32:21,984
that they had.
668
00:32:21,984 --> 00:32:25,070
They didn't want to tell workers
at all what was going on.
669
00:32:25,070 --> 00:32:27,990
And how all they cared about
was the productivity.
670
00:32:29,157 --> 00:32:30,951
We're taking the stance against Amazon,
671
00:32:30,951 --> 00:32:33,537
the beast Amazon,
just us workers doing it.
672
00:32:34,454 --> 00:32:37,374
I read that the workers in Bessemer
673
00:32:37,374 --> 00:32:39,001
were trying to form a union.
674
00:32:39,001 --> 00:32:40,919
That means they're going
through the same thing.
675
00:32:40,919 --> 00:32:44,590
So, it's not like it was a JFK8 problem.
676
00:32:44,590 --> 00:32:46,216
It was an Amazon problem.
677
00:32:47,301 --> 00:32:50,637
- Union!
- Now!
678
00:32:50,637 --> 00:32:52,472
REPORTER: Nearly 6,000 workers
at an Amazon warehouse
679
00:32:52,472 --> 00:32:54,683
in Bessemer, Alabama,
fighting for the right
680
00:32:54,683 --> 00:32:57,603
to collectively bargain
over working conditions.
681
00:32:57,603 --> 00:33:00,147
♪
682
00:33:00,147 --> 00:33:03,901
NIKOLE: Alabama, once home
to the capital of the Confederacy,
683
00:33:03,901 --> 00:33:08,780
exists in one of the most anti-union
regions of the country, the South.
684
00:33:08,780 --> 00:33:11,033
ORGANIZER:
Let's show some love
for Ms. Jennifer Bates.
685
00:33:11,033 --> 00:33:12,576
[people cheering]
686
00:33:12,576 --> 00:33:14,286
Hello, everybody.
687
00:33:14,286 --> 00:33:17,497
Thank you for coming out
to support us on today.
688
00:33:17,497 --> 00:33:20,042
When we began to organize this union,
689
00:33:20,042 --> 00:33:22,711
we had no idea that it
would be this large.
690
00:33:22,711 --> 00:33:25,088
We were just a few people trying to start,
691
00:33:25,088 --> 00:33:27,674
um, a union to make a big impact.
692
00:33:28,258 --> 00:33:30,052
NIKOLE:
In 2020, less than a year
693
00:33:30,052 --> 00:33:32,930
after Amazon opened its
fulfillment center in Bessemer,
694
00:33:32,930 --> 00:33:36,683
Jennifer Bates joined the historic effort
to unionize the facility.
695
00:33:37,518 --> 00:33:40,103
- Some of the things that
they said we already have
696
00:33:40,103 --> 00:33:44,733
is competitive wage, and awesome benefits,
697
00:33:44,733 --> 00:33:46,485
but what I say is,
698
00:33:46,485 --> 00:33:49,738
you just offered us a wheelbarrow
and call it a car.
699
00:33:49,738 --> 00:33:51,490
Everything look good...
700
00:33:51,490 --> 00:33:52,950
NIKOLE:
Amazon employees are not alone
701
00:33:52,950 --> 00:33:54,868
in their push to unionize.
702
00:33:54,868 --> 00:33:56,370
In the last few years,
703
00:33:56,370 --> 00:33:58,956
the country has seen a surge
of efforts at big companies
704
00:33:58,956 --> 00:34:01,208
that had never been
successfully unionized,
705
00:34:01,208 --> 00:34:03,794
like Starbucks, McDonald's, and Apple.
706
00:34:05,295 --> 00:34:07,548
Unions help to ensure
decent pay and benefits,
707
00:34:07,548 --> 00:34:09,466
even for the working class.
708
00:34:09,466 --> 00:34:12,094
They are the primary reason
we have a 40-hour work week,
709
00:34:12,094 --> 00:34:13,971
and overtime pay.
710
00:34:13,971 --> 00:34:15,764
And yet, until recently,
711
00:34:15,764 --> 00:34:18,600
union membership had been
declining for decades,
712
00:34:18,600 --> 00:34:20,477
leaving workers unprotected,
713
00:34:20,477 --> 00:34:23,021
and unable to negotiate
the terms of their labor.
714
00:34:23,021 --> 00:34:25,691
♪
715
00:34:25,691 --> 00:34:29,319
Today, a defining feature
of our nation's capitalism
716
00:34:29,319 --> 00:34:32,281
is a relatively low level
of union participation
717
00:34:32,281 --> 00:34:33,740
compared to other countries.
718
00:34:35,158 --> 00:34:38,370
In Iceland, more than 90%
of wage and salaried workers
719
00:34:38,370 --> 00:34:39,621
belong to trade unions.
720
00:34:40,747 --> 00:34:43,500
In Italy, it's more than 30%.
721
00:34:43,500 --> 00:34:46,044
And in Canada, 27%.
722
00:34:46,044 --> 00:34:47,880
But in America,
723
00:34:47,880 --> 00:34:51,383
only 10% of wage and salaried workers
carry union cards.
724
00:34:51,842 --> 00:34:54,720
[traffic rumbling]
725
00:34:57,890 --> 00:35:01,977
So when you look at union participation
in other countries,
726
00:35:01,977 --> 00:35:04,229
and compare it to America,
727
00:35:04,229 --> 00:35:05,689
we rank near the bottom.
728
00:35:05,689 --> 00:35:06,773
Why is that?
729
00:35:06,773 --> 00:35:08,192
Hasn't always been that way.
730
00:35:08,192 --> 00:35:11,570
We rank near the bottom today
because for the last 40 years,
731
00:35:11,570 --> 00:35:15,908
we've experienced a kind of
onslaught against labor.
732
00:35:15,908 --> 00:35:20,162
That is, laws passed
making it harder to organize,
733
00:35:20,162 --> 00:35:23,790
as well as companies getting
support from the government
734
00:35:23,790 --> 00:35:25,250
to suppress unions.
735
00:35:26,835 --> 00:35:28,921
The fact of the matter
is that in the 1930s,
736
00:35:28,921 --> 00:35:32,633
the US had one of the highest
union rates in the world.
737
00:35:32,633 --> 00:35:35,385
And at the forefront of those
union movements in the 1930s,
738
00:35:35,385 --> 00:35:39,181
and into the '40s were often
Black workers themselves.
739
00:35:40,057 --> 00:35:43,185
NIKOLE:
Black Americans who faced
rampant labor discrimination
740
00:35:43,185 --> 00:35:46,021
were particularly
interested in unionizing.
741
00:35:46,647 --> 00:35:48,190
In the '30s and '40s,
742
00:35:48,190 --> 00:35:51,109
union activism thrived
in the state of Alabama.
743
00:35:51,109 --> 00:35:54,446
But those efforts were met
with intense violence.
744
00:35:54,446 --> 00:35:56,198
Black Americans were shot and killed,
745
00:35:56,198 --> 00:35:59,701
tarred and feathered,
and lynched for trying to organize.
746
00:36:01,954 --> 00:36:05,457
When we know we kind of
have this collective memory
747
00:36:05,457 --> 00:36:08,544
of that violence against Black labor,
748
00:36:08,544 --> 00:36:10,420
Black labor organizers,
749
00:36:10,420 --> 00:36:12,840
how does that memory contribute
750
00:36:12,840 --> 00:36:14,883
to the kind of psychology we see
751
00:36:14,883 --> 00:36:17,219
around labor organizing today?
752
00:36:17,219 --> 00:36:20,556
I'm always astounded at the courage,
753
00:36:20,556 --> 00:36:22,766
especially of Black women.
754
00:36:22,766 --> 00:36:26,144
And so, in many ways, it doesn't seem
755
00:36:26,144 --> 00:36:29,523
like the threat of violence has succeeded
756
00:36:29,523 --> 00:36:33,694
in dampening the spirit to organize.
757
00:36:33,694 --> 00:36:38,532
Instead, what we've seen
is the use of soft power.
758
00:36:38,949 --> 00:36:42,119
And Amazon is the best example
759
00:36:42,119 --> 00:36:44,746
of the use of soft power
760
00:36:44,746 --> 00:36:46,707
to undermine unionization.
761
00:36:46,707 --> 00:36:49,084
The amount of money that Amazon paid
762
00:36:49,084 --> 00:36:52,212
to fight the union
could have increased wages,
763
00:36:52,212 --> 00:36:55,799
but they don't wanna do that,
because once you win one place,
764
00:36:55,799 --> 00:36:57,467
you're gonna win everywhere.
765
00:36:58,927 --> 00:37:00,762
NIKOLE:
At the top of 2021,
766
00:37:00,762 --> 00:37:02,556
the union drive
in Bessemer, Alabama,
767
00:37:02,556 --> 00:37:04,474
was gaining momentum,
768
00:37:04,474 --> 00:37:07,769
but the warehouse workers,
a group that is 85% Black,
769
00:37:07,769 --> 00:37:10,856
were up against Amazon's
strong anti-union campaign.
770
00:37:13,650 --> 00:37:15,485
So, what did Amazon do?
771
00:37:15,485 --> 00:37:19,239
How did they try to counter the efforts
772
00:37:19,239 --> 00:37:20,866
to bring the union to the plant?
773
00:37:20,866 --> 00:37:24,328
They gave little cards, and it tells you
774
00:37:24,328 --> 00:37:26,288
how to fill out your ballot.
775
00:37:26,288 --> 00:37:29,583
But on the back of it, it had vote no.
776
00:37:29,583 --> 00:37:31,668
So, people thinking
they're picking up a card
777
00:37:31,668 --> 00:37:34,129
to show them how to fill out their ballot,
778
00:37:34,129 --> 00:37:36,965
but on the flip side of it,
it has vote no.
779
00:37:36,965 --> 00:37:41,136
They had what they call
captive audience classes
780
00:37:41,136 --> 00:37:44,264
to tell you that you don't need a union.
781
00:37:44,264 --> 00:37:46,433
The union's only here to take your money.
782
00:37:48,101 --> 00:37:50,103
NIKOLE:
Amazon released videos
to help managers
783
00:37:50,103 --> 00:37:52,272
discourage labor organizing efforts.
784
00:37:53,440 --> 00:37:55,359
NARRATOR:
It is critical that we recognize
785
00:37:55,359 --> 00:37:57,027
the early warning signs
of potential organizing,
786
00:37:57,027 --> 00:37:59,196
and escalate concerns promptly.
787
00:37:59,196 --> 00:38:01,114
The most obvious signs would include
788
00:38:01,114 --> 00:38:03,325
use of words associated with unions,
789
00:38:03,325 --> 00:38:06,995
or union-led movements,
like "living wage" or "steward."
790
00:38:06,995 --> 00:38:08,872
NIKOLE:
While Amazon maintains
791
00:38:08,872 --> 00:38:10,207
that holding meetings with employees
792
00:38:10,207 --> 00:38:12,209
is a legally recognized strategy
793
00:38:12,209 --> 00:38:14,211
that helps their workforce
understand the facts
794
00:38:14,211 --> 00:38:16,129
about joining a union,
795
00:38:16,129 --> 00:38:18,966
Jennifer says that some of her
colleagues felt intimidated.
796
00:38:19,883 --> 00:38:21,885
They were coming to our work stations,
797
00:38:21,885 --> 00:38:23,846
asking us how we felt about the union,
798
00:38:23,846 --> 00:38:27,224
and why is it important
that we didn't bring a union in?
799
00:38:28,684 --> 00:38:31,019
NIKOLE:
Amazon even requested
to change the timing
800
00:38:31,019 --> 00:38:34,356
of the traffic lights
outside the Bessemer fulfillment center.
801
00:38:34,356 --> 00:38:36,066
And while the company says the request
802
00:38:36,066 --> 00:38:39,278
was to avoid traffic congestion
during shift changes,
803
00:38:39,278 --> 00:38:41,822
pro-union workers believed
it was to deter them
804
00:38:41,822 --> 00:38:43,782
from canvassing at red lights.
805
00:38:46,326 --> 00:38:51,290
What is it like going up against
a big company like Amazon
806
00:38:51,290 --> 00:38:53,166
in a fight like this?
807
00:38:53,166 --> 00:38:55,836
- Well, for me, the size of
the company didn't matter.
808
00:38:55,836 --> 00:38:59,006
All I know is that we had to
bring light to a situation,
809
00:38:59,006 --> 00:39:02,551
and fight to unionize
for better working conditions,
810
00:39:02,551 --> 00:39:05,929
and the betterment of
ourselves and our families.
811
00:39:05,929 --> 00:39:08,473
♪
812
00:39:16,273 --> 00:39:19,776
♪
813
00:39:19,776 --> 00:39:21,528
DERRICK:
Today is Sunday.
814
00:39:21,528 --> 00:39:25,365
I'm headed to JFK8 Staten Island Amazon
815
00:39:26,158 --> 00:39:28,202
to get more signatures.
816
00:39:28,202 --> 00:39:31,663
We're starting to get closer
to our election vote.
817
00:39:33,624 --> 00:39:35,334
NIKOLE: After staging
a successful walkout
818
00:39:35,334 --> 00:39:36,960
in March of 2020,
819
00:39:36,960 --> 00:39:39,421
Derrick and his coworkers
followed Bessemer's lead,
820
00:39:39,421 --> 00:39:42,466
and decided to try and form
a union at their facility.
821
00:39:43,425 --> 00:39:45,052
After we get the signatures,
822
00:39:45,052 --> 00:39:46,970
we're gonna file an election
823
00:39:46,970 --> 00:39:50,432
with the National Labor Relations Board.
824
00:39:50,432 --> 00:39:54,770
And once we file,
every Amazon worker in Staten Island
825
00:39:54,770 --> 00:39:56,396
can vote on whether or not
they want a union
826
00:39:56,396 --> 00:39:57,606
to represent them.
827
00:39:59,608 --> 00:40:02,611
♪
828
00:40:05,489 --> 00:40:08,450
[traffic rumbling]
829
00:40:14,498 --> 00:40:16,792
- Hi, how you doing?
- Hi.
830
00:40:16,792 --> 00:40:18,961
- Did you hear about
the Amazon Labor Union,
831
00:40:18,961 --> 00:40:20,796
or what we're trying to do?
832
00:40:20,796 --> 00:40:22,506
NIKOLE:
Derrick and his fellow
union activists
833
00:40:22,506 --> 00:40:24,508
at JFK8 spent several months
834
00:40:24,508 --> 00:40:28,595
trying to gather enough signatures
to earn the right to a vote.
835
00:40:28,595 --> 00:40:31,431
- So this is basically saying
that you want an election
836
00:40:31,431 --> 00:40:33,225
to vote on whether or not
you want a union.
837
00:40:33,225 --> 00:40:37,020
We're trying to fight for
things like more vacation time,
838
00:40:37,020 --> 00:40:38,647
more personal time.
839
00:40:38,647 --> 00:40:40,315
You know, actual sick time.
840
00:40:40,315 --> 00:40:42,901
- Yeah, but we don't have sick time.
- Exactly.
841
00:40:42,901 --> 00:40:45,153
I felt like I always had it in me
842
00:40:45,153 --> 00:40:47,739
to do something like this,
843
00:40:47,739 --> 00:40:51,034
but the fact that I'm actually doing it
844
00:40:51,034 --> 00:40:53,370
inspires me to keep going harder
845
00:40:54,162 --> 00:40:55,622
with getting cards signed,
846
00:40:55,622 --> 00:40:58,000
with talking to workers, inspiring them,
847
00:40:58,000 --> 00:41:00,252
letting them know
that it's okay to speak out.
848
00:41:02,337 --> 00:41:04,798
♪
849
00:41:08,218 --> 00:41:10,888
NIKOLE:
The particular brutality
of American capitalism
850
00:41:10,888 --> 00:41:13,682
has been playing out
for centuries in this country.
851
00:41:13,682 --> 00:41:16,852
And you can't talk about that
without talking about land.
852
00:41:18,562 --> 00:41:20,814
The land that Amazon
broke ground on in 2018
853
00:41:20,814 --> 00:41:24,693
in Bessemer, Alabama, once
belonged to the Creek Nation.
854
00:41:24,693 --> 00:41:26,612
But in the early 1800s,
855
00:41:26,612 --> 00:41:29,448
seeking to expand slavery
across the southeast,
856
00:41:29,448 --> 00:41:33,285
the US government stripped
the Creek of 23 million acres,
857
00:41:33,285 --> 00:41:35,787
an area that spans roughly half of Alabama
858
00:41:35,787 --> 00:41:37,247
and Southern Georgia,
859
00:41:37,247 --> 00:41:41,168
and sold off parcels of land
to white men like James McAdory,
860
00:41:41,168 --> 00:41:44,129
who became one of the wealthiest men
in Jefferson County
861
00:41:44,129 --> 00:41:45,923
by selling slave-grown cotton.
862
00:41:48,091 --> 00:41:49,718
After slavery was abolished,
863
00:41:49,718 --> 00:41:51,595
Alabama and other Southern states
864
00:41:51,595 --> 00:41:55,516
simply developed new systems
designed to exploit Black labor.
865
00:41:57,559 --> 00:41:59,520
In the decades following the Civil War,
866
00:41:59,520 --> 00:42:02,814
mining became central
to the Alabama economy,
867
00:42:02,814 --> 00:42:06,193
and northern-based US Steel,
owned by prominent businessmen
868
00:42:06,193 --> 00:42:08,946
including JP Morgan and Andrew Carnegie,
869
00:42:08,946 --> 00:42:10,739
dominated the industry.
870
00:42:12,699 --> 00:42:14,535
At the turn of the century,
871
00:42:14,535 --> 00:42:17,913
no other company in the nation
was bigger than US Steel.
872
00:42:17,913 --> 00:42:21,959
And when it acquired the most significant
iron and steel company in Birmingham,
873
00:42:21,959 --> 00:42:25,546
it also acquired their brutal practice
of convict leasing.
874
00:42:25,546 --> 00:42:27,756
♪ somber music ♪
875
00:42:31,760 --> 00:42:35,722
- This was a ghastly place,
just a ghastly place,
876
00:42:35,722 --> 00:42:38,058
and this was the epicenter
of it all right here.
877
00:42:39,101 --> 00:42:40,936
The reason the cemetery was right here
878
00:42:40,936 --> 00:42:42,479
was there were all these
mines surrounding it.
879
00:42:42,479 --> 00:42:45,649
Let's talk about convict leasing.
880
00:42:45,649 --> 00:42:47,276
How would you define convict leasing,
881
00:42:47,276 --> 00:42:48,902
and how did it get started?
882
00:42:48,902 --> 00:42:52,364
- So convict leasing,
in a kind of objective form,
883
00:42:52,364 --> 00:42:54,575
was just the idea that, okay,
somebody breaks the law,
884
00:42:54,575 --> 00:42:56,493
they get sentenced to prison,
885
00:42:56,493 --> 00:42:59,997
or they get sentenced to a fine
that they can't pay,
886
00:42:59,997 --> 00:43:01,707
and so the alternative is hard labor.
887
00:43:01,707 --> 00:43:03,709
The selling of the labor of prisoners
888
00:43:03,709 --> 00:43:06,420
became this huge economic force
889
00:43:06,420 --> 00:43:09,131
for local governments
and state governments.
890
00:43:11,675 --> 00:43:14,511
NIKOLE:
After the 13th Amendment
legally abolished slavery,
891
00:43:14,511 --> 00:43:16,346
Southern states enacted new laws
892
00:43:16,346 --> 00:43:19,141
aimed at recreating
a system of forced bondage.
893
00:43:19,141 --> 00:43:21,602
These laws, called Black Codes,
894
00:43:21,602 --> 00:43:24,688
criminalized the everyday
behaviors of Black people.
895
00:43:24,688 --> 00:43:26,940
Black men were arrested for vagrancy,
896
00:43:26,940 --> 00:43:28,859
or walking along a railroad track,
897
00:43:28,859 --> 00:43:30,944
or for talking loudly near white women.
898
00:43:33,655 --> 00:43:35,616
The selling of prisoners' labor
899
00:43:35,616 --> 00:43:37,993
became the single
biggest source of revenue
900
00:43:37,993 --> 00:43:39,536
for the state of Alabama.
901
00:43:39,536 --> 00:43:41,580
Bigger than any taxes that were collected,
902
00:43:41,580 --> 00:43:44,291
and it was nearly that way
for many Southern states.
903
00:43:44,291 --> 00:43:47,377
But then also, this is a way
that these big enterprises
904
00:43:47,377 --> 00:43:49,254
could also make huge amounts of money
905
00:43:49,254 --> 00:43:52,883
because the cost of the labor
to them was almost nothing.
906
00:43:52,883 --> 00:43:57,346
- So we are standing in this
very innocuous landscape.
907
00:43:57,346 --> 00:43:59,515
Looks like we could be
anywhere in America,
908
00:43:59,515 --> 00:44:02,309
just overgrown, brush, wooded area.
909
00:44:02,309 --> 00:44:06,438
But something really
sinister happened here.
910
00:44:06,438 --> 00:44:08,607
Talk about where we are.
911
00:44:08,607 --> 00:44:10,692
It's difficult to picture,
912
00:44:10,692 --> 00:44:13,445
but in every direction
there were coal mines,
913
00:44:13,445 --> 00:44:15,781
and in several of those mines,
914
00:44:15,781 --> 00:44:17,908
there were thousands of men
915
00:44:17,908 --> 00:44:19,868
who had been forced to work there,
916
00:44:19,868 --> 00:44:23,580
ostensibly as sentences for crimes
that they committed.
917
00:44:23,580 --> 00:44:25,332
But in reality, these were not,
918
00:44:25,332 --> 00:44:27,501
on the whole, actual criminals.
919
00:44:29,503 --> 00:44:31,922
They were whipped in the mornings
and whipped at night
920
00:44:31,922 --> 00:44:35,843
if each man did not bring
out the set amount of coal
921
00:44:35,843 --> 00:44:38,428
that was assigned to him every single day.
922
00:44:38,428 --> 00:44:42,391
The lash was totally
ubiquitous in this world.
923
00:44:42,391 --> 00:44:45,727
And so these men were chained
together, almost at all times.
924
00:44:45,727 --> 00:44:49,356
And then once deep in the earth,
they didn't have water,
925
00:44:49,356 --> 00:44:51,233
they didn't have sufficient food.
926
00:44:51,233 --> 00:44:54,236
Huge numbers of them died
in accidents and explosions
927
00:44:54,236 --> 00:44:55,779
down in the mine.
928
00:44:55,779 --> 00:44:58,740
And then when people died,
either at work,
929
00:44:58,740 --> 00:45:01,034
or back in the stockade,
930
00:45:01,034 --> 00:45:03,453
they were oftentimes brought back
931
00:45:03,453 --> 00:45:05,789
to basically where we are now,
932
00:45:05,789 --> 00:45:09,459
and dumped in what was
not really a cemetery.
933
00:45:10,544 --> 00:45:14,631
This whole area became a burial ground.
934
00:45:17,926 --> 00:45:23,390
- So we are standing
at the site of a mass grave.
935
00:45:23,932 --> 00:45:25,893
There's no other thing to call it.
936
00:45:25,893 --> 00:45:29,188
It was a one at a time, month after month,
937
00:45:29,188 --> 00:45:33,317
year after year,
decade after decade, mass grave.
938
00:45:33,317 --> 00:45:34,902
And everybody knew that.
939
00:45:34,902 --> 00:45:37,487
People always knew it was there.
940
00:45:37,487 --> 00:45:41,116
As a society, we chose to forget.
941
00:45:41,116 --> 00:45:42,618
♪ somber music ♪
942
00:45:42,618 --> 00:45:44,286
NIKOLE: But the lives
of Black men and boys
943
00:45:44,286 --> 00:45:46,163
who were forced into what's been called
944
00:45:46,163 --> 00:45:49,041
slavery by another name
should never be forgotten.
945
00:45:50,792 --> 00:45:52,544
Alabama became the last state
946
00:45:52,544 --> 00:45:55,756
to end the practice
of convict leasing in 1928.
947
00:45:57,758 --> 00:46:01,470
Steel production remained a major industry
in the region for decades.
948
00:46:01,470 --> 00:46:03,722
In fact, it wasn't until the 1980s
949
00:46:03,722 --> 00:46:05,807
that US Steel's power waned.
950
00:46:07,476 --> 00:46:09,019
And that land in Bessemer
951
00:46:09,019 --> 00:46:11,271
that once belonged to the Creek Nation
952
00:46:11,271 --> 00:46:14,441
that was sold to
slaveholder James McAdory,
953
00:46:14,441 --> 00:46:17,611
that was eventually sold to US Steel?
954
00:46:17,611 --> 00:46:21,532
In 2020, US Steel sold it to Amazon.
955
00:46:23,325 --> 00:46:26,286
Government officials in Alabama
promised Amazon
956
00:46:26,286 --> 00:46:30,207
more than $50 million in tax breaks
to come to Bessemer.
957
00:46:30,207 --> 00:46:33,418
These incentives, some argue,
could have been better spent
958
00:46:33,418 --> 00:46:37,047
on desperately needed roads,
libraries, parks, and schools.
959
00:46:39,299 --> 00:46:41,093
Meanwhile, Alabama citizens
960
00:46:41,093 --> 00:46:43,470
carry the burden of these
types of tax breaks.
961
00:46:43,470 --> 00:46:46,557
The state has the fifth highest
sales tax rate in the country,
962
00:46:46,557 --> 00:46:49,184
and even taxes bare necessities like food.
963
00:46:51,478 --> 00:46:54,064
- So it's off of our backs
as they become billionaires,
964
00:46:54,064 --> 00:46:56,191
but they treat us like peons.
965
00:46:56,191 --> 00:46:57,693
Our lives matter.
966
00:46:57,693 --> 00:47:00,153
And when we decided that
we needed the unions
967
00:47:00,153 --> 00:47:01,989
because we're tired of being mistreated,
968
00:47:01,989 --> 00:47:03,866
we're tired of being ignored.
969
00:47:04,741 --> 00:47:06,577
NIKOLE:
By the spring of 2021,
970
00:47:06,577 --> 00:47:08,912
Jennifer and her colleagues
had begun to cast their ballots
971
00:47:08,912 --> 00:47:10,956
in a historic vote that had the potential
972
00:47:10,956 --> 00:47:14,209
to unionize the first Amazon warehouse
in the nation.
973
00:47:18,922 --> 00:47:21,550
♪ somber music ♪
974
00:47:26,471 --> 00:47:30,809
So take me to the day in spring 2021
975
00:47:30,809 --> 00:47:33,896
when the vote is finally there.
976
00:47:33,896 --> 00:47:35,939
Eyes all over the country
are watching this vote
977
00:47:35,939 --> 00:47:39,318
because people say this is
a test, for many things.
978
00:47:39,318 --> 00:47:42,696
You had to have been
nervous the night before.
979
00:47:42,696 --> 00:47:43,864
Did you sleep?
980
00:47:43,864 --> 00:47:45,782
I was nervous the whole time,
981
00:47:45,782 --> 00:47:50,704
because I had employees
who tried to get their ballots back.
982
00:47:50,704 --> 00:47:52,873
- To switch their vote?
- To switch their vote,
983
00:47:52,873 --> 00:47:56,126
because they didn't have enough
information about the union.
984
00:47:56,126 --> 00:47:57,669
Because Amazon had told 'em
985
00:47:57,669 --> 00:47:59,546
that you're gonna lose your benefits.
986
00:47:59,546 --> 00:48:01,798
You're gonna get,
you can end up with less money.
987
00:48:01,798 --> 00:48:03,592
And they believed 'em.
988
00:48:03,592 --> 00:48:06,637
I was on my break
when the news came through.
989
00:48:06,637 --> 00:48:08,931
We saw the news media there in a tent
990
00:48:08,931 --> 00:48:11,975
with some of the anti-union people.
991
00:48:11,975 --> 00:48:13,727
They were all set up in a tent.
992
00:48:13,727 --> 00:48:16,897
So we knew that they was getting ready
to make an announcement.
993
00:48:16,897 --> 00:48:19,858
So, we got a message giving us the total,
994
00:48:19,858 --> 00:48:21,902
and it was like a gut punch.
995
00:48:22,903 --> 00:48:25,239
- Tonight, Amazon has
officially defeated efforts
996
00:48:25,239 --> 00:48:28,575
to unionize workers at its
warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama.
997
00:48:29,243 --> 00:48:31,537
And I went inside off the break,
998
00:48:31,537 --> 00:48:35,874
and most of the people had
stopped working in my area.
999
00:48:35,874 --> 00:48:38,043
One of the young ladies,
she said, "Did you hear?"
1000
00:48:38,043 --> 00:48:40,170
She said, "What happened, what happened?"
1001
00:48:40,170 --> 00:48:41,338
It was a sad day.
1002
00:48:42,381 --> 00:48:46,552
For me, I felt like I may
have let 'em down, you know?
1003
00:48:46,552 --> 00:48:49,096
Even though they said no,
you didn't, you know?
1004
00:48:50,138 --> 00:48:52,307
I felt like because
I was fighting, you know,
1005
00:48:52,307 --> 00:48:55,352
fighting for 'em,
and because they had hoped
1006
00:48:55,352 --> 00:48:57,563
that some changes were gonna come.
1007
00:48:57,563 --> 00:49:00,691
I really wish we could
have brought a victory.
1008
00:49:02,276 --> 00:49:05,445
When you saw the the results,
1009
00:49:05,445 --> 00:49:09,116
which was very heavily against the union,
1010
00:49:09,116 --> 00:49:12,035
were you suspicious of those results
when you saw it initially?
1011
00:49:12,035 --> 00:49:13,579
We were very suspicious,
1012
00:49:13,579 --> 00:49:16,498
because we had a huge
following for the union.
1013
00:49:16,498 --> 00:49:18,667
We had a huge support.
1014
00:49:21,253 --> 00:49:22,754
NIKOLE:
Amazon benefited from laws
1015
00:49:22,754 --> 00:49:24,965
dating back to the late 1940s
1016
00:49:24,965 --> 00:49:27,092
that weakened the effectiveness of unions,
1017
00:49:27,092 --> 00:49:28,886
and kept workers from organizing.
1018
00:49:30,679 --> 00:49:32,848
And Alabama's hardly alone.
1019
00:49:32,848 --> 00:49:34,975
For decades, Republican legislatures
1020
00:49:34,975 --> 00:49:37,895
have passed anti-union laws
across the nation,
1021
00:49:37,895 --> 00:49:39,438
eroding workers' rights,
1022
00:49:39,438 --> 00:49:41,398
and making it harder for them to unionize,
1023
00:49:41,398 --> 00:49:43,859
and negotiate higher wages and benefits.
1024
00:49:45,235 --> 00:49:48,530
These efforts have even succeeded
outside of the Black belt,
1025
00:49:48,530 --> 00:49:51,700
in the once heavily unionized
Midwestern states.
1026
00:49:54,203 --> 00:49:55,787
But in this country,
1027
00:49:55,787 --> 00:49:57,206
laws have not been the only obstacles
1028
00:49:57,206 --> 00:49:58,874
working against unionizing.
1029
00:50:00,375 --> 00:50:03,128
In Alabama, after the end
of convict leasing,
1030
00:50:03,128 --> 00:50:06,673
Black workers attempted
to create solidarity with white workers
1031
00:50:06,673 --> 00:50:08,592
to form multiracial labor unions
1032
00:50:08,592 --> 00:50:10,844
that would improve
working conditions for all.
1033
00:50:12,471 --> 00:50:14,556
But much like the labor organizing efforts
1034
00:50:14,556 --> 00:50:17,392
of meat-packing workers
in my hometown of Waterloo,
1035
00:50:17,392 --> 00:50:19,311
or dock workers in Philadelphia,
1036
00:50:20,395 --> 00:50:24,066
the white elite used race
to divide interracial organizing.
1037
00:50:24,066 --> 00:50:26,401
And some would argue that even today,
1038
00:50:26,401 --> 00:50:29,029
as labor fights
play out across the country,
1039
00:50:29,029 --> 00:50:32,491
too many white workers
still choose racial solidarity
1040
00:50:32,491 --> 00:50:34,618
over their own economic interests.
1041
00:50:36,245 --> 00:50:38,163
KELLEY:
Whiteness has its own value,
1042
00:50:38,163 --> 00:50:43,126
but as W.E.B. Du Bois says,
it's a paltry wage.
1043
00:50:43,919 --> 00:50:48,131
That what they get from
holding onto whiteness
1044
00:50:48,131 --> 00:50:51,635
is so minuscule to what they could get
1045
00:50:51,635 --> 00:50:53,720
by holding onto solidarity.
1046
00:50:53,720 --> 00:50:56,723
Together, they could take the plant.
1047
00:50:56,723 --> 00:50:59,518
They could actually fight
and win a living wage.
1048
00:50:59,518 --> 00:51:01,103
But by standing apart,
1049
00:51:01,103 --> 00:51:04,606
what they end up getting
is pride in being white,
1050
00:51:05,732 --> 00:51:08,151
pride in not being on welfare,
1051
00:51:08,151 --> 00:51:11,947
and pride in not
necessarily having to live
1052
00:51:11,947 --> 00:51:13,991
in those neighborhoods
where Black people live.
1053
00:51:13,991 --> 00:51:17,578
But ultimately, they live in neighborhoods
that are not so much better.
1054
00:51:17,578 --> 00:51:20,205
♪ somber music ♪
1055
00:51:26,461 --> 00:51:28,297
NIKOLE:
In April of 2022,
1056
00:51:28,297 --> 00:51:31,717
two years after they walked off their jobs
in defiant protest,
1057
00:51:31,717 --> 00:51:33,594
Derrick and his fellow union activists
1058
00:51:33,594 --> 00:51:36,722
had secured enough signatures for a vote,
1059
00:51:36,722 --> 00:51:39,975
and their grassroots effort
had attracted national media attention.
1060
00:51:41,226 --> 00:51:43,020
The defeat in Alabama
1061
00:51:43,020 --> 00:51:46,023
had revealed Amazon's
crushing anti-union tactics.
1062
00:51:46,023 --> 00:51:48,317
So as the ballots were
counted in New York,
1063
00:51:48,317 --> 00:51:49,693
tensions were high.
1064
00:51:51,069 --> 00:51:53,530
All this attention was towards Bessemer,
1065
00:51:53,530 --> 00:51:55,365
and then when they lost,
1066
00:51:55,365 --> 00:51:59,703
the general consensus
about that was it's over.
1067
00:51:59,703 --> 00:52:02,164
There will never be another union drive.
1068
00:52:02,164 --> 00:52:04,499
So, it's a lot of pressure.
1069
00:52:04,499 --> 00:52:07,169
♪ tense music ♪
1070
00:52:07,169 --> 00:52:09,379
NIKOLE:
By mid-afternoon,
the results were in.
1071
00:52:09,379 --> 00:52:10,547
[people cheering]
1072
00:52:10,547 --> 00:52:12,466
Yeah, let's go!
1073
00:52:12,466 --> 00:52:15,969
NIKOLE:
2,654 votes for the union,
1074
00:52:15,969 --> 00:52:19,097
2,131 against.
1075
00:52:20,015 --> 00:52:23,852
Today, we make history!
1076
00:52:24,603 --> 00:52:27,397
[people cheering]
1077
00:52:27,397 --> 00:52:29,566
♪ upbeat music ♪
1078
00:52:30,442 --> 00:52:32,569
Thank you all, appreciate it.
1079
00:52:32,569 --> 00:52:33,946
Oh, we wanna thank
Jeff Bezos for going to space,
1080
00:52:33,946 --> 00:52:36,198
'cause when he was up there,
we were signing the people up.
1081
00:52:37,491 --> 00:52:39,576
We just became the first union
1082
00:52:39,576 --> 00:52:41,411
for Amazon
in the United States of America.
1083
00:52:41,411 --> 00:52:44,706
So like, ah, this is one of
the proudest moments of my life.
1084
00:52:44,706 --> 00:52:46,208
We won.
1085
00:52:46,208 --> 00:52:47,709
[people cheering]
1086
00:52:47,709 --> 00:52:49,044
NIKOLE:
The Amazon Labor Union win
1087
00:52:49,044 --> 00:52:50,462
was an astounding victory
1088
00:52:50,462 --> 00:52:53,131
against a notoriously
powerful corporation.
1089
00:52:53,131 --> 00:52:56,969
But Derrick and his fellow organizers
are not alone.
1090
00:52:56,969 --> 00:52:59,346
In the first half of 2022,
1091
00:52:59,346 --> 00:53:02,558
union activists across the country
won more elections
1092
00:53:02,558 --> 00:53:04,685
than they had in the last 20 years.
1093
00:53:05,310 --> 00:53:09,147
CROWD:
AOU! AOU! AOU!
1094
00:53:09,857 --> 00:53:13,610
[train horn blaring]
1095
00:53:16,697 --> 00:53:19,324
♪
1096
00:53:20,701 --> 00:53:22,536
- Union's in the house!
- Hey!
1097
00:53:22,744 --> 00:53:25,080
- Unions in the house!
- Hey!
1098
00:53:25,414 --> 00:53:27,583
- Unions in the house!
- Hey!
1099
00:53:27,583 --> 00:53:29,585
NIKOLE:
In the winter of 2022,
1100
00:53:29,585 --> 00:53:32,087
almost a year after their first attempt,
1101
00:53:32,087 --> 00:53:34,840
Jennifer and her colleagues
geared up for a second vote
1102
00:53:34,840 --> 00:53:37,259
after the National Labor Board ruled
1103
00:53:37,259 --> 00:53:40,053
Amazon had improperly
interfered with the election.
1104
00:53:40,053 --> 00:53:42,431
- You say power, unions!
- Power!
1105
00:53:42,431 --> 00:53:44,016
- Unions!
- Power!
1106
00:53:44,016 --> 00:53:47,186
- Who got the power?
- We got the power!
1107
00:53:47,186 --> 00:53:50,898
- What kind of power?
- Union power!
1108
00:53:50,898 --> 00:53:52,107
[people cheering]
1109
00:53:52,107 --> 00:53:53,942
ORGANIZER: And up next,
we have from the Amazon
1110
00:53:53,942 --> 00:53:55,861
Worker Organizing Committee,
1111
00:53:55,861 --> 00:53:58,197
Jennifer Bates and Darryl Richardson.
1112
00:53:58,197 --> 00:54:01,033
Make some noise!
[people cheering]
1113
00:54:01,033 --> 00:54:03,202
- My name is Jennifer Bates.
Guess what, y'all?
1114
00:54:03,202 --> 00:54:05,996
♪ Second time around ♪
1115
00:54:05,996 --> 00:54:10,167
Today, we have so many people
who's on fire,
1116
00:54:10,167 --> 00:54:12,127
and want to bring unions back.
1117
00:54:12,127 --> 00:54:14,546
Who understand the assignment.
1118
00:54:14,546 --> 00:54:17,716
ORGANIZER:
Solidarity, union, yes!
1119
00:54:17,716 --> 00:54:19,510
[people cheering]
1120
00:54:19,968 --> 00:54:22,471
NIKOLE: Amazon declined
our request for an interview.
1121
00:54:22,471 --> 00:54:24,306
But in a statement they said,
1122
00:54:24,306 --> 00:54:26,683
"The health, safety,
and well-being of our employees
1123
00:54:26,683 --> 00:54:28,227
"are top priorities.
1124
00:54:28,227 --> 00:54:29,811
"We're grateful to all of our employees
1125
00:54:29,811 --> 00:54:32,814
"for their time, talent,
and hard work every day.
1126
00:54:32,814 --> 00:54:34,691
"We've invested billions of dollars
1127
00:54:34,691 --> 00:54:37,986
"in new operations,
safety measures, technologies,
1128
00:54:37,986 --> 00:54:41,406
"and other innovative solutions
that protect our employees.
1129
00:54:41,406 --> 00:54:43,200
"We're committed to giving our employees
1130
00:54:43,200 --> 00:54:45,369
"the resources they need to be successful,
1131
00:54:45,369 --> 00:54:47,037
"creating time for regular breaks,
1132
00:54:47,037 --> 00:54:48,789
"and a comfortable pace of work,
1133
00:54:48,789 --> 00:54:50,541
"and working directly with anyone
1134
00:54:50,541 --> 00:54:53,710
who needs additional support
to meet their goals."
1135
00:54:54,419 --> 00:54:57,005
♪
1136
00:54:59,174 --> 00:55:01,385
The truth is, we all know someone
1137
00:55:01,385 --> 00:55:03,136
who stayed in a job they hated,
1138
00:55:03,136 --> 00:55:04,888
because they needed healthcare,
1139
00:55:04,888 --> 00:55:07,599
or because they felt
powerless to demand better.
1140
00:55:07,599 --> 00:55:10,227
And while Black workers
might have it the worst,
1141
00:55:10,227 --> 00:55:12,980
we all suffer under this uniquely brutal
1142
00:55:12,980 --> 00:55:15,190
and unequal system of capitalism
1143
00:55:15,190 --> 00:55:17,234
that was born on the plantation.
1144
00:55:19,027 --> 00:55:20,904
For my cousin Chimiere,
1145
00:55:20,904 --> 00:55:22,656
the government's effort
to relieve that suffering
1146
00:55:22,656 --> 00:55:24,449
during the pandemic,
1147
00:55:24,449 --> 00:55:26,159
the stimulus checks that
paid her more than she earned
1148
00:55:26,159 --> 00:55:27,828
when she was working,
1149
00:55:27,828 --> 00:55:31,039
only revealed a deeper truth
about the country we live in.
1150
00:55:32,541 --> 00:55:35,878
- It shouldn't have took the pandemic
for me to be able to live.
1151
00:55:35,878 --> 00:55:40,090
I've actually lived more comfortable
during this pandemic
1152
00:55:40,090 --> 00:55:42,593
than I have ever done in my life.
1153
00:55:42,593 --> 00:55:46,638
- And what does that
say to you about our society?
1154
00:55:46,638 --> 00:55:49,099
That it's really, it's jacked up.
1155
00:55:49,099 --> 00:55:50,934
Why does, I mean, a lot of people
1156
00:55:50,934 --> 00:55:52,477
are losing their family members.
1157
00:55:53,979 --> 00:55:58,192
And I feel so bad for 'em,
but now I can live.
1158
00:55:58,192 --> 00:56:01,737
So you're losing your uncle,
your cousin, your friends.
1159
00:56:03,280 --> 00:56:05,949
But this is the only way you noticed me.
1160
00:56:07,910 --> 00:56:10,787
♪
1161
00:56:20,756 --> 00:56:22,633
You spent much of your career
1162
00:56:22,633 --> 00:56:25,594
writing about labor struggles,
and social movements.
1163
00:56:25,594 --> 00:56:28,305
What needs to happen
so that we don't have to be
1164
00:56:28,305 --> 00:56:30,516
victims of the past,
1165
00:56:30,516 --> 00:56:33,393
where race has been used
to divide these movements,
1166
00:56:33,393 --> 00:56:35,687
really to the harm
of most of us in society?
1167
00:56:35,687 --> 00:56:37,397
Right, I guess three things.
1168
00:56:37,397 --> 00:56:40,484
One, we need to come
to grips with the past,
1169
00:56:40,484 --> 00:56:41,652
in a serious way.
1170
00:56:41,652 --> 00:56:45,822
Two, we actually need
a critique of capitalism,
1171
00:56:45,822 --> 00:56:48,700
and how capitalism and racism
kind of function together
1172
00:56:48,700 --> 00:56:51,745
to oppress not just Black people,
but all of us.
1173
00:56:51,745 --> 00:56:52,538
All of us.
1174
00:56:53,664 --> 00:56:55,499
And the third thing, I think,
1175
00:56:55,499 --> 00:56:58,919
is that we need to think
seriously about solidarity.
1176
00:56:58,919 --> 00:57:00,212
What does that mean?
1177
00:57:00,212 --> 00:57:05,384
In order to come together
in a thoughtful, courageous,
1178
00:57:05,384 --> 00:57:09,304
and forthright way
means you've got to engage the past.
1179
00:57:09,304 --> 00:57:11,640
We've got to know what divides us,
1180
00:57:11,640 --> 00:57:13,392
because part of the thing that divides us
1181
00:57:13,392 --> 00:57:14,852
makes wealth for other people.
1182
00:57:14,852 --> 00:57:15,853
- Mm-hmm.
1183
00:57:16,436 --> 00:57:19,231
♪ gospel music ♪
1184
00:57:19,231 --> 00:57:23,527
The reality is, American capitalism
requires complicity.
1185
00:57:23,527 --> 00:57:25,404
It is hard to imagine regular people
1186
00:57:25,404 --> 00:57:27,990
allowing the crime of slavery
for a cotton shirt,
1187
00:57:27,990 --> 00:57:29,700
or sugar in their tea.
1188
00:57:29,700 --> 00:57:32,202
And yet today, we look away from the fact
1189
00:57:32,202 --> 00:57:33,787
that workers are being exploited
1190
00:57:33,787 --> 00:57:36,081
for the convenience of one-day delivery
1191
00:57:36,081 --> 00:57:37,457
that's just a click away.
1192
00:57:40,085 --> 00:57:42,838
The movement Jennifer
and her coworkers started
1193
00:57:42,838 --> 00:57:44,715
helped spark what's been called
1194
00:57:44,715 --> 00:57:47,176
the most important moment
in recent US labor history.
1195
00:57:48,343 --> 00:57:51,430
I think what we did was lit a fire,
1196
00:57:51,430 --> 00:57:53,015
and shined a light on something
1197
00:57:53,015 --> 00:57:55,976
that's been going on for years and years.
1198
00:57:55,976 --> 00:57:57,811
People been standing up for their rights.
1199
00:57:57,811 --> 00:58:01,440
They have been taking on their companies,
1200
00:58:01,440 --> 00:58:03,150
and they're feeling like, you know what?
1201
00:58:03,150 --> 00:58:05,110
I am somebody.
We are valuable.
1202
00:58:06,862 --> 00:58:08,739
NIKOLE:
It's hard to tell if the changes
1203
00:58:08,739 --> 00:58:11,283
that occurred over
the last few years will be lasting.
1204
00:58:11,283 --> 00:58:14,161
But perhaps the devastation
wreaked by the pandemic,
1205
00:58:14,161 --> 00:58:16,580
and the gross inequities it exposed,
1206
00:58:16,580 --> 00:58:18,874
helped American workers recognize
1207
00:58:18,874 --> 00:58:22,377
that we do have a choice
about what we will accept,
1208
00:58:22,377 --> 00:58:25,589
and the power to create
the country that we want.
1209
00:58:27,466 --> 00:58:29,551
Do you think you'll win this fight?
1210
00:58:29,551 --> 00:58:31,053
I believe we will.
1211
00:58:31,053 --> 00:58:32,304
I believe we will.
1212
00:58:32,304 --> 00:58:35,224
And if you don't win, what happens?
1213
00:58:35,224 --> 00:58:36,350
We keep fighting.
1214
00:58:37,768 --> 00:58:40,604
We keep fighting. We keep fighting.
1215
00:58:58,455 --> 00:59:00,374
[people chanting]
1216
00:59:00,374 --> 00:59:02,459
NIKOLE: But fighting
for equality in America
1217
00:59:02,459 --> 00:59:04,753
has always been dangerous
for Black people.
1218
00:59:04,753 --> 00:59:07,548
In fact, sometimes just
walking down the street
1219
00:59:07,548 --> 00:59:10,133
provokes an emotion
that results in deadly force.
1220
00:59:11,593 --> 00:59:13,512
LAWYER:
My client truly was in fear for his life.
1221
00:59:13,512 --> 00:59:16,348
REPORTER 1: In his own words,
he feared for his life.
1222
00:59:16,348 --> 00:59:18,892
REPORTER 2: The two officers
feared for their lives.
1223
00:59:18,892 --> 00:59:20,978
NIKOLE:
And that fear of Black people,
1224
00:59:20,978 --> 00:59:24,356
and Black freedom,
dates all the way back to slavery.
1225
00:59:25,524 --> 00:59:29,278
- Being a good member
of the white community
1226
00:59:29,278 --> 00:59:32,197
is to be constantly on the lookout
1227
00:59:32,197 --> 00:59:36,285
for any type of suspicious behavior
among Black people.
1228
00:59:36,285 --> 00:59:41,248
And it has become a type
of historical memory, right?
1229
00:59:41,248 --> 00:59:45,335
That consciously and unconsciously
gets passed down
1230
00:59:45,335 --> 00:59:47,087
from generation to generation.
1231
00:59:47,087 --> 00:59:50,591
♪ spiritual music ♪
1232
01:00:25,417 --> 01:00:29,046
♪
1233
01:01:08,126 --> 01:01:11,672
♪