Christian Smalls, the unlikely union leader who took on Amazon

A file photo of Smalls speaking following the April 1, 2022, vote for the unionisation of the Amazon Staten Island warehouse in New York. — AFP

In his colourful jacket emblazoned with the slogan “Eat the rich”, Christian Smalls is accosted from all sides as he walks by the bus stop where he spent countless hours trying to convince Amazon employees to form a union.

The president of the Amazon Labor Union (ALU), which caused a stir in early April by becoming the ecommerce giant’s first union in the United States, walks the sidewalk he knows so well in a New York industrial area.