At their shareholder meeting today in Seattle, Amazon announced that they are dropping their affiliation with the conservative American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). Michelle Malkin discusses it here, along with a brief response she received from Amazon. A petition had been going, started by a small group calling itself “Working Washington”, as well as a protest they organized. But this was not the work of a little, grassroots protest group. It was a massive effort that has been going on for some time.
Michelle Malkin warned that this was coming in her previous piece here. PJ Media discussed it in depth back in February, outlining the Left’s united effort to shut down ALEC, including Van Jones, Joel Rogers, Starhawk, & Soros funded groups. Van Jones’ Color of Change had called Amazon out directly and waged a boycott unless they dropped their ALEC affiliation.
Who is the little protest group appearing at the shareholder’s meeting this week? Working Washington is actually SEIU, Obama’s favorite union, which was reported by the Seattle Times back in December, as the same group was co-opting Occupy Seattle:
But Working Washington is not truly grass-roots. It’s an arm of the Service Employees International Union, or SEIU, which is known for its aggressive political tactics as one of the state’s most powerful unions.
Working Washington has support from other labor and consumer groups, too, including the Teamsters and Washington Community Action Network.
Working Washington shares office space and staff with SEIU and was created as an attempt to bring new voices to the issues the left-leaning union has championed for decades: fair working conditions, health care, better wages and benefits.
Michelle Malkin correctly suggests that now is the time for consumers to speak out, as Amazon is just one of many on the list of targeted businesses:
If you don’t speak up, they’ll cave, too.
Before you pull your dollars from Amazon, I suggest using your customer clout to pressure Amazon to reverse course. These companies need to hear from customers and investors that suppressing conservative political participation is not good for their business. Stand your ground.
This isn’t just about ALEC. A dangerous precedent is being set, as unions and leftist radicals continue to intimidate or manipulate one corporation after another, from Target to Amazon, in a very organized effort to remake this nation.
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