[Update as of Dec. 19, 2024] Beginning at 6 a.m. ET, the Teamsters Union began strikes at seven Amazon fulfillment centers in New York City, Georgia, California and Illinois, as confirmed by multiple media reports. The labor actions, taken less than one week before Christmas, are designed to exert maximum pressure on the company during the peak pre-holiday fulfillment period.
Additionally, the union claims that Teamsters local unions are putting up picket lines at “hundreds of Amazon fulfillment centers nationwide,” giving workers without collective bargaining agreements there “the legal right to honor these picket lines by withholding their labor.”
“If your package is delayed during the holidays, you can blame Amazon’s insatiable greed,” said Teamsters General President Sean O’Brien in a statement. “We gave Amazon a clear deadline to come to the table and do right by our members. They ignored it. These greedy executives had every chance to show decency and respect for the people who make their obscene profits possible. Instead, they’ve pushed workers to the limit and now they’re paying the price. This strike is on them.”
Amazon disputes the Teamsters’ assertions and claims the union is using strong-arm tactics: “For more than a year now, the Teamsters have continued to intentionally mislead the public — claiming that they represent ‘thousands of Amazon employees and drivers,’” said Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel in comments provided to Retail TouchPoints. “They don’t, and this is another attempt to push a false narrative. The truth is that the Teamsters have actively threatened, intimidated and attempted to coerce Amazon employees and third-party drivers to join them, which is illegal and is the subject of multiple pending unfair labor practice charges against the union.
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“What you see here are almost entirely outsiders — not Amazon employees or partners — and the suggestion otherwise is just another lie from the Teamsters,” Nantel added. “The truth is that they were unable to get enough support from our employees and partners and have brought in outsiders to come and harass and intimidate our team, which is inappropriate and dangerous.”
The strikes are taking place at the following Amazon facilities: DBK4 in New York City; DGT8 in Atlanta; DFX4, DAX5 and DAX8 in Southern California; DCK6 in San Francisco; and DIL7 in Skokie, Ill.
Original story from Dec. 17, 2024 begins-
With claims from Teamsters General President Sean O’Brien that “Amazon is pushing its workers closer to the picket line by failing to show them the respect they have earned,” Teamsters locals at two New York City facilities and one in Skokie, Ill. have authorized strikes against the company — just as the holiday season is adding increased pressure on ecommerce fulfillment.
“We’ve been clear: Amazon has until December 15 to come to the table and bargain for a contract,” said O’Brien in a statement issued on Dec. 14, 2024. “If these white-collar criminals want to keep breaking the law, they better get ready for a fight.”
Amazon claims it’s the Teamsters that are using strong-arm tactics. “For more than a year now, the Teamsters have continued to intentionally mislead the public – claiming that they represent ‘thousands of Amazon employees and drivers’,” said Eileen Hards, an Amazon spokesperson in comments provided to Retail TouchPoints. “They don’t, and this is another attempt to push a false narrative. The truth is that the Teamsters have actively threatened, intimidated, and attempted to coerce Amazon employees and third-party drivers to join them, which is illegal and is the subject of multiple pending unfair labor practice charges against the union.”
In New York, workers at Staten Island’s JFK8 and Queens’ DBK4 fulfillment centers authorized strikes on December 14; drivers at the DIL7 delivery station in Skokie authorized a strike on December 16. While no actual labor actions appear to have taken place yet, the Teamsters, which have organized workers at 10 Amazon facilities across the country, are determined to ramp up the pressure on the giant retailer.
“Our members are ready to do whatever it takes to get a contract,” said Connor Spence, President of ALU-IBT Local 1, the Staten Island union that voted to join the Teamsters in June 2024, in a statement. “While Amazon continues to disrespect us by refusing to listen to our concerns, our movement is only growing stronger.”
Amazon’s labor record, both in the U.S. and internationally, is spotty at best. In December 2023, the National Labor Relations Board won a ruling against Amazon for harassing employees seeking to unionize its JFK8 and DYY6 fulfillment facilities in Staten Island, N.Y. Globally, progressive groups planned labor actions against Amazon during the Black Friday-Cyber Monday period last month. And earlier this week, a U.S. Senate committee determined that Amazon’s “obsession with speed” was creating dangerous conditions for workers at its warehouses; Amazon denied the charges.
At press time Amazon had not responded to a request for comment on the strike authorizations.