Workers at seven Amazon facilities across the United States went on strike early Thursday morning.
The walk-off, occurring during peak holiday shopping season and just days before Christmas, was intended to push Amazon into contract negotiations with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. However, the company does not recognize the employees’ affiliation with the union.
‘The Teamsters have actively threatened, intimidated, and attempted to coerce Amazon employees and third-party drivers to join them.’
The union claims it represents roughly 10,000 workers at 10 of the company’s facilities. Employees at seven facilities — including those in Illinois, Georgia, New York, and three California locations — walked off the job.
Workers at other Amazon locations are also prepared to join the strike, Fox Business reported.
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters called it the “largest” strike against Amazon, warning that it could cause delivery delays for customers.
The union’s general president, Sean O’Brien, stated Wednesday evening, “If your package is delayed during the holidays, you can blame Amazon’s insatiable greed.”
“We gave Amazon a clear deadline to come to the table and do right by our members. They ignored it. This strike is on them,” he added.
The union provided Amazon with a deadline of December 15 to begin negotiation talks.
Reuters reported that Amazon is unlikely to initiate discussions over concerns that it will lead to additional actions by the union.
The company is not concerned that the walk-off will impact delivery times through the holidays. The union represents roughly 1% of Amazon’s workforce.
Kelly Nantel, an Amazon spokesperson, told Fox Business, “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.’ 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,” she added.
Kara Deniz, a Teamsters spokesperson, responded to Amazon’s statement, claiming the company is “gaslighting the American public with their false narratives.”
“The truth is, over 20 bargaining units, representing nearly 9,000 employees, have successfully organized because for many years the company has exploited and abused workers, and these workers are fed up and fighting back,” Deniz stated.
“No matter how massive Amazon’s corporate PR machine is, they cannot fool the American public into believing drivers delivering Amazon packages in Amazon-branded vans don’t actually work for Amazon,” she continued. “No one believes this nonsense. Amazon needs to stop avoiding their legal obligation to these workers and get to the bargaining table now.”
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