A group of TikTok creators said they are refusing to work with Amazon until Amazon Labor Union demands are met.
The union, which was founded independently in April 2021 by current and former employees, has called for several changes, including: a $30-per-hour minimum wage, better working conditions and an end to what it believes to be the company’s union-breaking tactics. . .
The influencer campaign, which officially launched on Tuesday and is known as “People Over Prime”, consists of 70 TikTokers with a total of more than 51 million followers. her website.
The Washington Post first message about the campaign.
Gen Z for Change, a nonprofit advocacy group that helped organize the campaign, said in an online pronunciation that the creators are “calling on Amazon to listen to their employees and make tangible changes to their work environment.”
“Amazon’s widespread mistreatment of their employees and blatant” the use of union-breaking tactics will no longer be tolerated by the TikTok community or TikTok makers,” it said.
Representatives from Amazon and the Amazon Labor Union did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Elise Joshi, deputy director of Gen Z for Change, says Amazon knows how much impact TikTok influencers have. TikTok has 1 billion monthly active users and Amazon has used the platform before with its Influencer Program – which allows creators to monetize their platforms by recommending Amazon products.
“The millions of dollars Amazon has put into TikTok shows how much they know that TikTok is powerful, so if they talk to powerful creators, we can also benefit from that,” said Joshi, 20.
The campaign came to fruition after the group’s success this year helping organize other union campaigns at major retailers such as Starbucks and Kroger, Joshi said.
“The idea was to get as many creators on TikTok as possible and that TikTok creators don’t tolerate anti-union companies like Amazon,” Joshi said.
Amazon has come under more scrutiny in the past year for its labor practices after it settled with the National Labor Relations Board for violating workers’ rights in places like Seattle and Bessemer, Alabama.
For teens and young adults, Joshi said, TikTok is the best medium to pressure Amazon to give in to the union’s demands because the app also acts as a news source for this younger audience.
The high level of approval of unions by Americans and the success of the union campaign at an Amazon warehouse in Staten Island, New York, in April also contributed to the organization’s decision to launch the pledge, she said.
Aside from pressuring Amazon to comply with the union’s demands, Joshi ultimately hopes to dissuade TikTok influencers from continuing to work with Amazon and raise awareness of other union efforts across the country.
“I’d like TikTok creators, even if they’re not part of ‘People Over Prime,’ to know that Amazon and its partnership with Amazon look bad because their audience is aware of this campaign,” she said.
“I also hope this gives visibility to warehouse unions across the country… and hopefully this is a way to bring light and attention to those efforts to make it a little bit easier.”
In a tweet responding to Joshi, Derrick Palmer, co-founder of the Amazon Labor Union, wrote“Thank you for your support. Myself and @amazonlabor appreciate #Solidarity.”