‘Amazon, here we come’: Biden celebrates warehouse staff unionizing in warning to corporations

President Joe Biden issued a major warning to Amazon during a speech to trade unions on Wednesday, telling the shipping giant: ‘Here we come.’ 

Days earlier, workers at its Staten Island, New York warehouse took a historic vote to establish the company’s first workers’ union even despite a reported crackdown on such discussions. 

During his speech to the North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU)’s 2022 Legislative Conference, Biden also reiterated his vow to ‘unify’ the country — though admitted the uphill effort sometimes made him ‘angry.’

The president even brought back his trademark whisper when touted the 320,000 new construction jobs he said came from his American Rescue Plan, an economic package aimed at easing the economic burden of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

‘Laying a strong foundation for the future of this country is about more than having strong roads and bridges, ports and airports that can compete with any in the world. It’s also about making sure that here in America, folks that work hard and live their lives, they have an opportunity to live it with dignity and respect. That’s what unions are about, mind you,’ Biden told the crowd of unionized workers and their representatives.

‘That’s why I created the White House task force on worker organization and empowerment, to make sure the choice to join a union belongs to workers alone.’

He then leaned in close to the microphone to add: ‘And by the way – Amazon, here we come.’

DailyMail.com reached out to Amazon for comment but has not immediately heard back. 

One of the company’s executives, Senior Vice President for Policy and Press Jay Carney, formerly worked for Biden as his director of communications in the Obama administration. 

The White House walked back Biden’s comments after the event, making clear that the president would not be ‘involved in any direct effort’ to force Amazon to unionize. 

‘What he was not doing is sending a message that he or the US government would be directly involved in any of these efforts or take any direct action,’ White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said during her Wednesday briefing. 

‘What he was conveying is that — is his longtime support for collective bargaining, for the rights of workers to organize, and their decision to do exactly that in this case — something that he has long supported broadly over the course of his career.’

At one point during his address, Biden shared praise for his Labor Secretary, former Boston Mayor Marty Walsh. 

The president appeared to add a stereotypical Boston twang, pronouncing the Cabinet official’s first name as ‘Mahty.’

He also had time to take a swing at his rival, former President Donald Trump, over the Republican’s tax cuts for wealthy Americans and businesses.  

‘That two trillion dollar tax cut the last guy — what was his name — anyway, the last guy. I forgot it, he never showed up for the inauguration,’ Biden quipped as the audience laughed in response. 

‘That’s why I created the White House task force on worker organization and empowerment, to make sure the choice to join a union belongs to workers alone,’ Biden said, adding: ‘And by the way – Amazon, here we come’ (Pictured: Union organizer Christian Smalls (right, red tracksuit) celebrates after workers at a Staten Island Amazon warehouse voted in favor of unionizing)

The White House later walked back Biden’s comments, maintaining he was not going to be ‘involved in any direct effort’ to force the shipping giant to accept unions

Toward the end of his roughly 30-minute remarks, Biden reminded the crowd why he ran for president in the first place — reiterating his promise to ‘restore the soul of this country’ and ‘to rebuild the backbone of America, which is the middle class and working people.’ 

‘And three — to try to unify the country. That’s been the hardest thing so far, not a joke,’ Biden admitted. 

‘But we’re going to get there because you can’t have a democracy function unless you can generate consensus. You ultimately have to unify, as angry as I sometimes get.’

Biden’s speech came just days after workers at a Staten Island Amazon warehouse voted in favor of forming the corporation’s first-ever union, after a grassroots campaign by current and former employees.

The final count was a nail-biting 2,654 votes in favor of organizing to 2,131 against, a mark of the sophisticated union-busting tactics the shipping giant took on to fight the movement.

Those included forcing employees to attend mandatory meetings during which they were vehemently discouraged from taking part in what it called a ‘third-party.’ 

The New York City warehouse workers will now be represented by the Amazon Labor Union, which was formed by fired Amazon worker Christian Smalls. 

Smalls, a former supervisor at the facility, was let go after he staged an employee walkout to protest the company’s lack of health protections during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The company had said Smalls violated company protocols himself by coming to work for the walkout when he was told to quarantine because of a close exposure. 

After being dismissed from his role, Smalls formed the Amazon Labor Union, which is unaffiliated with any major trade organizations or national unions in the country.

Asimilar vote to unionize failed at Amazon’s Bessemer, Alabama facility was too close to call as of late last month. 

Ballots were cast in a do-over election after the National Labor Relations Board ruled Amazon had interfered in a union vote that failed there last year.