Amazon workers affiliated with the Teamsters union continued a strike Friday at seven of the company’s distribution centers just days before Christmas.
At midnight Saturday, workers at a prominent New York union warehouse will also unionize, the Teamsters said. However, the union has not said how many employees have taken part in any of the walkouts or when they will end.
Workers, who voted to authorize strikes in recent days, first joined picket lines Thursday after Amazon ignored a Sunday deadline the union had set for contract negotiations. Meanwhile, workers at Starbucks stores said they would go on a five-day strike starting Friday to protest the lack of progress in contract negotiations with the coffee company.
The e-commerce giant has several hundred employees at each delivery station and thousands at its New York City warehouse, which is known as JFK8 and is located in the borough of Staten Island. A company spokesman said Amazon did not expect the strike to affect holiday shipments.
The Teamsters have focused primarily on organizing delivery drivers, who work for contractors who handle package deliveries for the company. But Amazon has rejected demands to come to the negotiating table as it does not consider the executives to be its employees.
Here’s what else you need to know:
Where are the strikes happening?
According to the union announcement, the strikes are taking place at three distribution centers in Southern California and one each in San Francisco, New York City, Atlanta, Georgia and Skokie, Illinois.
The Teamsters have not officially said when the actions will end, but Vinnie Perrone, the president of a local Teamsters union in metro New York, said Thursday that the walkout will continue “as long as it takes.”
The union, which claims to represent 10,000 Amazon workers at 10 facilities, said workers at more locations were prepared to join the fight.
Starting Saturday, that will include Amazon workers at the New York warehouse, which joined the fledgling Amazon Labor union in 2022 and has since been affiliated with the Teamsters. The Teamsters say over 5,500 employees work there. On Thursday evening, union leaders at that facility and volunteers held a Zoom call encouraging local community supporters to show up for the strike.
Workers at the company’s air hub in California have also authorized a strike. Additionally, the Teamsters says its local union is also setting up picket lines at other Amazon warehouses.
A company spokesman said Thursday that the attackers are “almost entirely outsiders, not Amazon employees or partners, and to suggest otherwise is just another lie from the Teamsters.”
Teamsters General President Sean O’Brien was scheduled to meet with union members on strike Friday at one of the California facilities.
What do workers want?
Striking workers are fighting for higher wages, better benefits and safer working conditions.
The Teamsters have been trying to get Amazon to come to the bargaining table since last year, when the labor organization first said it had brought together a group of delivery drivers in California who work for a contractor. Amazon — which denies it employs the workers — refused, prompting the union to file unfair labor charges against the company with the National Labor Relations Board.
In August, prosecutors at the federal labor agency classified Amazon as a “joint employer” of subcontracted drivers. In September, the company raised hourly wages for drivers amid mounting pressure.
Amazon warehouse workers who voted to unionize in 2022 have also tried to get the company to engage in contract negotiations.
The National Labor Relations Board certified the Amazon Labor Union election, but the company contested the representation vote and refused to bargain. In the process, Amazon also filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the labor board, which it accused of rigging votes.
Some organizers involved in union efforts there have long believed that Amazon would not come to the bargaining table unless workers went on strike.
What about holiday packages?
Amazon says it doesn’t expect the strike to affect its operations, but a walkout — especially one lasting multiple days — could delay deliveries in some metro areas.
An Amazon spokesman said Thursday that the company intentionally builds its sites close to where customers are, schedules shipping windows and works with other major carriers, such as UPS, to deliver products.
“We believe in the strength of our network and plan for contingencies to minimize impact or potential operational costs,” the spokesperson said.
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