Online activists Gen-Z for Change targeted Starbucks and Kroger for anti-union firings. Now they plan to take aim at Amazon.
Launched in 2020, the group rebranded from its original moniker, TikTok for Biden, after the president’s inauguration. The makeover also meant a broader remit, with content creators trumpeting issues from climate change to foreign relations. Over the past couple of months, members have begun to turn their attention to the labor movement. After Starbucks, they spammed the Kroger-owned supermarket Ralph’s, which posted temporary replacement jobs after unionized workers there authorized a strike.
Although none of the three activists have been union members, the labor movement’s recent successes tapped into their longing for tangible progress when so many of the issues they care about seem deadlocked, especially in the federal government. “Unions are taking over the country,” says Joshi. “And people want to get involved with that, because it's one of the coolest things that we have ever seen. And it's one of the most promising, optimistic things that we've seen.
While the Gen-Z activists learned little about unions in school, news of a resurgent labor movement reached them through the news and over social media, and led them to question some of their own early work experiences.