Union

Stephen Maing and Brett Story (2024, U.S., 104 min.) + post-film discussion

With 1.5 million employees globally and one of the largest marketplaces for all companies’ products, the Amazon corporation has unprecedented power in setting the standard for the future of work. This single company affects much of the internet’s infrastructure, dictates online retail globally, sells cloud services to militaries around the globe, has driven many small retailers on the main streets of towns and cities across the United States out of business, produces a massive carbon footprint, and has tremendous political influence to advance its own interests.

In its quest for profits, the company’s preferred standard seems to be defined by increased automation, worker surveillance, and efficiency at all costs. It also has pushed a deep resistance to unionization of any kind. In an era when American participation in labor unions has halved over the last 40 years, it would seem that resistance to such a behemoth is futile, right?

For a determined group of current and former Amazon employees, resistance isn’t futile: it’s the future of work. In this thrillingly intimate cinema vérité, Union chronicles the extraordinary efforts of a group of warehouse workers as they launch a grassroots union campaign at an Amazon fulfillment center in Staten Island, New York. Led by the charismatic and frequently underestimated Chris Smalls, the diverse band of struggling workers start the Amazon Labor Union (ALU) and embark on a journey against one of the largest and most powerful companies in the world. The odds are stacked against them, as the group finds itself up against paid disrupters, company surveillance, a lack of support from national unions or politicians, and internal divisions within their own ranks. Filmed over three years, the movie documents the struggle from day one, offering a gripping human drama about the fight for power and dignity in today’s globalized economic landscape. Is a different future possible? 

(This film screening is a collaboration with POV, PBS’ award-winning nonfiction film series: https://www.pbs.org/pov/, and is also screening in partnership with WPSU and Penn State’s LABOR School. The film originally premiered on POV on June 23, 2025.)

Following the film, we will feature a panel discussion on movement building, community resilience, and labor history.