Smalls recounts Staten Island COVID-era walkout that led to his firing

Chris Smalls told interviewer Karen Attia that a managers' meeting at Amazon indicated the company would not inform thousands of workers that colleagues had tested positive for COVID-19, prompting him to warn employees and organize a walkout. "Right after that meeting, I went immediately downstairs and told the workers... 'Y'all might wanna go home because something going on right now,'" Smalls said.

He described planning the walkout for 12:30 p.m. on March 30 to coincide with lunch breaks and to make the action visible outside the 1.5 million-square-foot building. "At 12:35, you see the doors open, and you see hundreds of workers who was walking out," he said. Smalls said media outlets and helicopters were on site and that two hours later he was fired.

Smalls framed the walkout as a safety action and a turning point for his organizing career: he said the company's decision to quarantine him shortly afterward and to later dismiss him for whistleblowing made the dispute public and helped spur wider organizing efforts.