Workers at seven Amazon facilities went on strike Thursday, in an effort by the Teamsters union to pressure the e-commerce company into reaching a labor agreement during a key shopping period.
The Teamsters said workers, who had voted to allow strikes in recent days, joined the picket lines after Amazon ignored the union’s Sunday deadline for contract negotiations. The union described this as the largest strike against the company in US history, although Amazon said it did not expect the labor action to affect its operations.
The international Brotherhood claims to represent nearly 10,000 workers at 10 Amazon facilities, a small fraction of the 800,000 workers who work in the company’s warehouses in the United States. The union did not mention the number of workers who would participate in the strike or how long the strike would last.
“Amazon is pushing its workers closer to the picket line by not showing them the respect they’ve earned,” Teamsters general president Sean O’Brien said in a statement.
The strikes, occurring Thursday, are taking place at seven delivery stations run by contractors who deliver packages to customers every day. They include three locations in Southern California, and one each in New York City, Atlanta, Georgia, and Skokie, Illinois, according to the union’s announcement.
Get daily national news
Get the day’s top political, economic and current affairs news, headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.
The Teamsters’ largest warehouse is located in the Staten Island borough of New York City. In 2022, thousands of workers at the warehouse, known as JFK8, voted to be represented by the fledgling Amazon labor union. The workers then choose to join the Teamsters last summer.
The National Labor Relations Board certified those elections to unionize, but Amazon refused to bargain on the contract. In the process, the company filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the works council.
At the other six facilities, employees — including many delivery drivers — joined truck drivers’ unions by showing majority support but without holding government-run elections.
Under labor law, companies can recognize unions without holding elections, but the practice is rare, said John Logan, director of labor and employment studies at San Francisco State University.
Amazon workers at more locations are “ready to join” the fight, the Teamsters said, noting that employees at a Staten Island warehouse and at the company’s air hub in California have also authorized a strike.
When asked about the strike on Thursday, Amazon spokeswoman Kelly Nantel said: “What you’re seeing here are almost complete strangers, not Amazon employees or partners, and to suggest otherwise is just another lie from the Teamsters.”
“The reality is that they were unable to get adequate support from our employees and partners, and they brought in strangers to come in and harass and intimidate our team, which is inappropriate and dangerous,” Nantel said.
Amazon said it does not consider delivery drivers to be strikers among its employees. Under the company’s business model, drivers work for third-party companies, called delivery service partners, who deliver millions of packages daily. Amazon accused the union, which it says represents some drivers, of “deliberately misleading the public.”
“This is another attempt to push a false narrative,” Nantel said.
But Teamsters members argued that Amazon essentially controls everything drivers do and should be classified as an employer. Some U.S. labor organizers have sided with the union in filings before the NLRB. In September, Amazon raised driver wages amid mounting pressure.
Shares of Amazon.com Inc. rose. By more than 2.4% by midday on Thursday.
& Edition 2024 The Canadian Press
