The following letters are reflections from PL’ers who stood shoulder-to-shoulder with striking Amazon workers on the picket line last month.

This is what community looks like

When I arrived at the Staten Island Amazon fulfillment center on that cold, unforgiving morning, a question and its answer echoed in my mind.

Why strike and why now? The strike line wasn’t just a cluster of people; it was a living, breathing example of solidarity, a testament to the collective power of the working class. 

So why did I want to join the strike? I needed to be there because standing shoulder to shoulder with workers and comrades felt like claiming my part in something bigger. It wasn’t just about one company, one contract, or one demand. It was about exposing the predatory systems that sustain capitalism and imagining what could replace it communist revolution. The labor movement has long been a crucible for these fights. My own involvement stemmed not only from anger at Amazon’s exploitation but from a deep commitment to building the Progressive Labor Party’s (PLP) potential reach in neighborhoods, and in the workplace.

The frigid air cut through every layer of clothing we wore. Yet, that physical discomfort felt small compared to the warmth of our shared mission: stop the production line and join the resisting fighters in the picket line. Organizers passed out sandwiches, scarves, and gloves to the picketers, while a bus retrofitted as a warming station provided brief respite. The workers were relentless; we chanted, we marched, and we made ourselves impossible to ignore. 

Those of us with the Progressive Labor Party distributed CHALLENGE newspapers, designed to spark conversation and broaden perspectives.

Through chants like “The workers united will never be defeated!” we tapped into the energy of the moment. And even though some of the slogans from others leaned reformist, the openness of the crowd toward our revolutionary ideas was clear. 

Being in that crowd wasn’t just symbolic. It was practical, critical work. Seeing the Amazon Labor Union, Teamsters, Socialist Party, and our own members of PLP standing together sent a message: the fight wasn’t confined to any one group, but united through a common purpose of worker power.

The strike did more than amplify grievances; it reconnected me with the broader aims of the Party. It also reaffirmed the necessity of disciplined communist leadership to channel the collective outrage of workers into sustained, revolutionary action. PLP’s role here wasn’t merely to support it was to agitate, to educate, and to organize.

When I think back on historical strikes, from the Paris Commune to Blair Mountain, I see how worker-led struggles reshaped our understanding of resistance. The Staten Island strike wasn’t the same scale, but it shared the DNA of those efforts—ordinary people rejecting exploitation and envisioning a new world. 

Capitalism thrives by isolating workers and convincing us that we are powerless. Strikes, especially militant ones, prove otherwise. They show that when workers unite across industries and borders, we have the ability not just to demand better but to overthrow the entire system. Reformist fights for incremental change won’t suffice. This system cannot be fixed, it must be dismantled.

My takeaway from that day was clear: being present matters. Revolutionary change will never happen in isolation. Strikes create opportunities for recruitment, growth, and action. These are the opportunities we must seize.

This is what a community looks like. A community of workers determined to take what’s ours. A community of revolutionary leaders ready to light the way forward. PLP will always be there for these fights, ready to sharpen every action toward building the strength necessary for a communist revolution. If there’s a picket line near you, join in. And look for us, we’ll be there. 

Let’s continue building the community that will take back the world. Join us.
*****

Amazon workers ready to fight

Amazon workers walked out and picketed the JFK8 warehouse in Staten Island shortly before Christmas, joining Amazon workers in Queens and around the country also on strike. It’s encouraging to see Amazon workers flexing their muscles during one of the most profitable periods of the year for the bosses and a time when warehouse workers and drivers are doubly exploited due to increased workloads, longer hours, increased pace and mandatory overtime. 

Progressive Labor Party members from New York and New Jersey joined the picketing workers to join them in their fight against some of the most powerful bosses in the country. Workers and Party members picketted for hours in the cold with class solidarity and a lively picket line, helping keep us warm, even if some of the reformist Teamster chants at times felt a little forced and repetitive. It was heartwarming to see workers enthusiastically join in when Party members introduced class-conscious chants like “down, down, DOWN with the bosses! Up, up, UP with the workers!” and “las luchas obreras, no tienen fronteras.” Even some of the teamster leaders sang these chants when we introduced them. We used this opportunity to distribute several dozen CHALLENGES and workers let us know they appreciated us being there to stand with them.

Workers at Amazon deserve better wages and working conditions but the working class cannot stop there. Sweatshop workers making many of the products Amazon ships along with workers around the world suffering from the bosses’ genocides and wars won’t be having a happy holiday season this year. We must fight to make every worker see it is our job to be on the front lines with every worker until we rule the world instead of greedy capitalists like Jeff Bezos. 
*****

Solidarity with Amazon workers

I was born not scared. If I believe in something I’m gonna do it.

You put a bug in them and it makes them think. It makes you happy if you are fighting for something. It makes you feel dead to just work. They signed the cards but they’re scared to come out.

They will take advantage of the benefits once we win. They must be brainwashed by Amazon and their training sessions. $425/day for these trainers.

I barely get to know my coworkers. Being on strike I get to know my coworkers. We only see each-other at work during the morning stretches and the mandatory anti-union meetings.

I was scared but I see all my guys are outside. If my team does something, I support them.

Better pay, more respect, safety, benefits, need a day off once in a while. Other drivers don’t go out because they can’t lose one paycheck. 

My perspective is you have to give up something to get something.

When I had a hot dog stand, I was the one who invented putting a hot-dog in a knish.

[at my high school] we had a quote unquote riot because the principal was gonna stop letting us go to the bathroom. We organized on blackberries.

These quotes are all from striking Amazon workers at DBK4 in Maspeth, Queens. I was inspired by our document Build a Base in The Working Class to work hard to be present and approachable and ask thoughtful questions of the striking workers. This was an inspiring and rewarding experience. It was better than reading a book about strikes! Being in the Progressive Labor Party (PLP) gives you the chance to be a part of history. I also shared messages of support I had gathered from workers and students in China, where I live and work at a university. A Chinese construction worker from my base sent the following poem from the Song dynasty, 

In the blink of an eye, we haven’t seen each other for a month, time flies like an arrow and days pass like a shuttle. Please take a look at the flowing water in the east, I understand the long-lasting separation between people. Do not worry about having no friends on your journey ahead, who in the world does not know you? 

One of the striking workers read the messages of support including the poem over the PA system. The same worker later encouraged other workers to give speeches about their perspective and commitment, which sharpened the ideological level of the picket action.

After the speeches the workers took turns spitting freestyle raps on the PA. “There’s a moral to the story” was a particularly poignant line one worker repeated. There were contradictions. One worker said that Amazon could only be defeated by another business, not by a working class movement. As is often the case at picket lines, a union organizer discouraged me from distributing CHALLENGE newspapers “they’re not ready for that. Political education comes later. We have to do something for the workers first.” This organizer was very kind and thoughtful and had spent a year base building to organize and motivate workers to join the Teamsters and to go out on strike. But the PLP line is that the working class is ready to choose critical thinking and commitment over material rewards. 

This is why we want to lead the fight for revolution not reform. In spite of this discouraging word, I was able to give out about 12 newspapers to striking workers and supporters by building rapport and getting contact information from almost everyone who took a paper. There’s a moral to the story! Being in the Party and doing Party work is a joyful way to spend any day including the holidays! Onward to the revolution!
*****