Amazon Labor Union President Chris Smalls appeared at a rally for the pending Fashion Workers Act on Friday, in hopes of compelling the New York Senate to pass legislation.
Amazon Labor Union President Chris Smalls’ efforts to galvanize New York Amazon workers may
A proven leader in union organizing, Smalls advocated for both the bill and the status of workers throughout the fashion industry. “He is a once-in-a-generation leader and we are so grateful to have his support,” noted Model Alliance founder Sara Ziff.
“From Amazon to the runway, we’re all workers at the end of the day. We deserve our fair share,” Smalls told Friday’s crowd. “Today I’m proud to stand with my brothers and sisters here in solidarity, showing that labor will support these models and creatives, who are exploited in this industry and don’t get the transparency and fair share that they rightly deserve.”
In full disclosure, I witnessed and experienced several of the issues at stake during my own decades-long career as a model, which included several years signed to Next Models as well as being a longtime model for Amazon’s New York-based fashion studios. While, on the whole, my own experience with both of the above entities was positive, veteran model Alex Shanklin spotlighted some of the broader issues specifically faced by Black talent across the industry, including being “turned away at the doors of agencies, where he was trying to get representation, due to his skin color,” and “castings where all of the Black models were in one room ‘separate from the other guys, other celebrities or whatever they were casting.”
“We have to pay attention to what’s been going on for years,” said Smalls. “Enough is enough. We’re all tired of being exploited and the transparency is not there. We’re not just going to stand here today and talk about it. We’re going to take action. We’re going to hold our labor, our creativity and our models from the runway—we’re going to tell them we’re not going to work with these people. We’re not going to keep allowing this system to exploit us until we get what we rightfully deserve,” he continued. “That is transparency, that is equity. We are all creatives, especially the Black and brown individuals that are in this industry. They get exploited even more. We’re going to make sure that everybody has the same equal employment opportunity and has their rightful fair share.”
Maiysha Kai is Lifestyle Editor of theGrio, covering all things Black and beautiful. Her work is informed by two decades’ experience in fashion and entertainment, great books and aesthetics, and the brilliance of Black culture. She is also the editor-author of Body (Words of Change series).
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