Teamsters announce strike against Amazon amid holiday delivery rush

The Teamsters union introduced a strike in opposition to Amazon Thursday morning with employees becoming a member of picket traces in 4 states, in what they declare is the biggest strike in opposition to the supply large in historical past.

The strike comes only one week earlier than Christmas, amid the push of last-minute vacation reward deliveries. 

The strike began at 6 a.m. ET with employees from a facility in New York Metropolis, a facility in Atlanta, three in Southern California, one in San Francisco and one in Skokie, Illinois, which is positioned simply outdoors of Chicago. The Teamsters mentioned in a press launch that just about 10,000 Amazon employees have joined the union. That’s only a small fraction of the 1.5 million individuals employed by the the $2 trillion tech and retail empire.

In that launch, the union mentioned the work stoppage comes after Amazon “ignored” a Dec. 15 deadline set by the union to come back to the bargaining desk. 

“In case your bundle is delayed through the holidays, you’ll be able to blame Amazon’s insatiable greed. We gave Amazon a transparent deadline to come back to the desk and do proper by our members. They ignored it,” mentioned Teamsters Normal President Sean M. O’Brien mentioned in an announcement.

“These grasping executives had each likelihood to indicate decency and respect for the individuals who make their obscene earnings potential. As an alternative, they’ve pushed employees to the restrict and now they’re paying the worth. This strike is on them,” he added.

Amazon is refuting the Teamster’s claims. 

“For greater than a yr now, the Teamsters have continued to deliberately mislead the general public — claiming that they symbolize ‘1000’s of Amazon workers and drivers’. They don’t, and that is one other try and push a false narrative,” Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel mentioned.

Nantel added that the Teamsters have allegedly tried to threaten and coerce Amazon workers and third-party drivers to hitch them, “which is unlawful and is the topic of a number of pending unfair labor apply expenses in opposition to the union.”

Amazon mentioned its workers have the selection to hitch a union if they need, and that the corporate already provides aggressive pay, well being advantages and alternatives for progress — all factors which many unions are requesting.