The Teamsters Announce Largest Strike Against Amazon in U.S. History
The Teamsters union has announced that its workers will begin striking at Amazon facilities across the country on Thursday morning, calling it the largest strike against the online shopping giant. The strike is set to take place at several facilities, including those in New York City, Atlanta, Southern California, San Francisco, and Skokie, Illinois.
According to the union, the strike is in response to Amazon’s refusal to bargain with workers organized with the Teamsters. The union claims that Amazon has ignored its demands and has instead focused on increasing profits at the expense of workers’ wages and benefits.
Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien stated, “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.”
Amazon, however, has denied the union’s claims, saying that the Teamsters have illegally coerced workers to join the union. An Amazon spokesperson stated, “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 spokesperson also cited Amazon’s efforts to increase wages, noting that the company has increased the starting minimum wage for workers in fulfillment centers and transportation employees by 20% and in September increased the average base wage to $22 per hour.
The strike comes after workers at several Amazon facilities authorized the walkout, with nearly 10,000 Amazon workers across the country having joined the union. The facility in New York City’s Staten Island was Amazon’s first-ever unionized warehouse, and workers there have said the company has refused to recognize the union and negotiate a contract after workers voted to unionize in 2022.
