The International Brotherhood of Teamsters announced a major strike that will begin Thursday morning at seven Amazon facilities across the United States.
The union aims to pressure the e-commerce giant into a labor agreement during a critical shopping period.
The strike, described as the largest against Amazon in U.S. history, follows Amazon’s failure to meet a December 15 deadline set by the union for contract negotiations, reported WFAA. Despite the union’s claims, Amazon has stated that it does not anticipate significant disruptions to its operations.
According to the Teamsters, nearly 10,000 workers at ten Amazon facilities are now unionized, a small fraction of Amazon’s 1.5 million-strong workforce.
The facilities involved in Thursday’s strikes include a warehouse in San Francisco, California, and six delivery stations located in Southern California, New York City, Atlanta, Georgia, and Skokie, Illinois. Union leaders report that additional facilities are ready to join the strike if needed.
Sean M. O’Brien, General President of the Teamsters, criticized Amazon’s approach: “Amazon is pushing its workers closer to the picket line by failing to show them the respect they have earned.”
One of the pivotal sites in this labor dispute is a warehouse in Staten Island, New York City, where thousands of workers voted to unionize under the Amazon Labor Union in 2022. Since affiliating with the Teamsters, these workers have sought broader representation. Other facilities involved in the strike have bypassed traditional government-administered elections, demonstrating majority support through alternative unionization efforts. Amazon, however, has consistently resisted these unionization efforts, even seeking to overturn the Staten Island election results in court and challenging the constitutionality of the National Labor Relations Board.
Amazon’s relationship with its delivery drivers is also a focal point of contention.
The Teamsters argue that Amazon effectively controls the drivers employed by third-party businesses known as Delivery Service Partners and should be classified as their direct employer. Amazon disputes this, with spokesperson Kelly Nantel accusing the union of misleading the public. “For more than a year now, the Teamsters have continued to intentionally mislead the public… This is another attempt to push a false narrative,” Nantel said in a statement.
Labor regulators have weighed in on the debate, with some siding with the Teamsters in filings made before the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Meanwhile, Amazon has sought to address rising labor pressures by increasing pay for delivery drivers. These wage boosts, implemented in September, underscore the growing influence of union efforts on Amazon’s business practices.
As the strike unfolds, the Teamsters remain adamant about their demands for better labor conditions and recognition of workers’ rights. They argue that Amazon’s labor model heavily relies on its workforce’s compliance and dedication while failing to address their needs adequately.
Amazon’s sheer scale and dominance in the e-commerce industry make this strike a historic moment in the labor movement.