(TEANECK, NJ) -- The Teaneck International Film Festival presents a screening of Union on Saturday, November 9, 2024 at Puffin Cultural Forum. The documentary chronicles the extraordinary efforts of an unlikely group of warehouse workers as they launch a grassroots union campaign at an Amazon fulfillment center. Screening takes place at 2:00pm.
Led by the charismatic but underestimated Chris Smalls, the diverse band of workers at the Staten Island fulfillment center 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 a tech industry giant with unlimited resources, without major support from national unions or politicians, and while navigating internal divisions within their own ranks.
Filmmakers Brett Story and Stephen Maing document the struggle from day one, offering a gripping human drama about the fight for power and dignity in today's globalized economic landscape.
Following the screening there will be a talkback with Natalie Monarrez, a key figure in the film who lived unhoused, in her car, in the Amazon JFK8 fulfillment center parking lot on Staten Island because she could not afford rent.
Tickets are $10 in advance and $15 at the door (if still available). Tickets for this screening and the entire festival are available for purchase online. Puffin Cultural Forum is located at 20 Puffin Way in Teaneck, New Jersey.
With 1.5 million employees globally, Amazon is actively setting the standard for a future of work defined by automation, surveillance, lack of safety, and employees turnover rates as high as 150%. In the United States, despite an uptick in worker stoppages, boycotts and strikes last year, union density is at an all-time low. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that just 10% of hourly and salaried workers were members of unions, or around 14.4 million people. More recently, Amazon joined Elon Musk's SpaceX and Trader Joe's in a legal fight to declare the National Labor Relations Board as unconstitutional.
Worker organizing at Amazon is critical for redefining our economic and political futures - this single corporation controls much of the Internet's infrastructure, it dictates terms of online retail globally, it sells cloud services to militaries around the globe, and has hollowed out the mainstreets of towns and cities across the country. Warehouse workers are joined by tech workers, activists, and the public to challenge these corporate bosses and force change.
Before you click and order your next item from Amazon, get a ticket to this film about the people who work there - a documentary presented by the Teaneck International Film Festival, a project of the Puffin Foundation, Ltd.
The Puffin seeks to open the doors of artistic expression by providing grants to artists and art organizations who are often excluded from mainstream opportunities due to their identities or social philosophies. TIFF, with its forever theme of Activism: Making Change strives to inspire caring about people whose stories are often unheard and issues that demand involvement. This film tells a story that must be heard. According to co-director Stephen Maing, it follows "the invisible working class" as they face an uphill battle against the notoriously anti-labor corporation.
The Teaneck International Film Festival (TIFF) takes place November 7-14, 2024 across several venues in Teaneck, New Jersey. The festival features over 25 films, panel discussions, and parties, with filmmakers, actors, elected officials and industry guests in attendance.
With the support of the nonprofit organization Puffin Foundation, Ltd., a small group of dedicated volunteers set out, more than 20 years ago, to create an event that would present a collection of compelling and imaginative feature-length films, documentaries, and shorts from a variety of cultures that would lead audiences to question, debate, and become caring and involved citizens who recognize the need to institute positive change. TIFF has found its niche on the film festival circuit, and, having been dubbed by the Star-Ledger, “the film festival with a social conscience,” is growing in reputation as well as numbers.
