More than 2,000 Amazon workers in Staten Island filed the petition to the NLRB to hold a union election. This effort, led by Chris Smalls and is called the Amazon labor Union. Smalls, a former employee, was fired after organizing a protest for lack of COVID protective gear and poor hazard pay. As an independent union, they hope to avoid Amazon’s anti-union messaging targeted towards established unions. The Amazon Labor Union has begun a union drive. Its goals are to bring back variable compensation pay and stock options that Amazon removed in 2018. In response, Amazon questioned if there was a sufficient number of legitimate signatures from Amazon employees. Amazon has also taken anti-union tactics, such as displaying anti-union messages in their facilities and bringing in anti-union consultants.