Smalls faults established unions and legacy media for failing grassroots organizing

Chris Smalls told the interviewer that established labor unions largely failed to give early solidarity to the grassroots Amazon Labor Union, saying leaders in some meetings came across as condescending and that the group decided to remain independent after a difficult encounter with a local union representative. "We walked out of there pissed off, and we never met with another union after that," Smalls said.

He also described a cycle in which media attention amplified the victory and then placed organizers under intense scrutiny. Smalls recounted being praised and then subjected to negative coverage and a memo he said leaked inside Amazon that described him as "not smart or articulate" — a characterization he described as racist and part of a smear campaign. He said the response motivated him to found a nonprofit and to escalate public protests at the homes of company executives.