Amazon employees at several warehouses across the United States, including New York City, Atlanta, Southern California, San Francisco, and Skokie, Illinois, initiated a strike early Thursday. The Teamsters union, which supports the workers, described this as the largest strike against the e-commerce behemoth, occurring just days before Christmas. The union also intends to establish primary picket lines at numerous Amazon Fulfillment Centers across the country.
The Teamsters union’s general president, Sean M. O’Brien, criticized Amazon’s corporate practices, attributing any potential holiday package delays to the company’s “insatiable greed.” The union had set a deadline of December 15 for Amazon to initiate negotiations on a new collective bargaining agreement, a deadline which Amazon did not meet.
Amazon, however, has countered the Teamsters’ claims, accusing the union of illegally pressuring workers to join. The Teamsters claim to represent 10,000 of Amazon’s employees, a figure disputed by Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel. Nantel stated that the Teamsters have been misleading the public for over a year, falsely claiming to represent thousands of Amazon employees and drivers.
Amazon employs approximately 1.5 million people in its warehouses and corporate offices. The company has recently increased the starting minimum wage for its drivers and workers in fulfillment centers by 20%. As of September, the average base wage was raised to $22 per hour, according to a company spokesperson.
At the Staten Island warehouse, thousands of workers voted for the Amazon Labor Union in 2022 and have since affiliated with the Teamsters. At other facilities, employees, including many delivery drivers, have demonstrated majority support for unionization without holding government-administered elections.
The Seattle-based online retailer has been seeking to redo the election that led to the union victory at the warehouse on Staten Island, which the Teamsters now represents. In response, the company has filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the National Labor Relations Board.