Amazon worker strike: Thousands to walk out of warehouses sparking Christmas mayhem
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Thousands of Amazon workers are set to walk out of warehouses just days before Christmas. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters said workers at seven Amazon facilities will begin a strike on Thursday morning, an effort by the union to pressure the e-commerce company for a labour agreement during a key shopping period.
The Teamsters say the workers, who authorised strikes in the past few days, are joining the picket line after Amazon ignored a December 15 deadline the union set for contract negotiations. Amazon says it doesn’t expect an impact on its operations during what the union calls the largest strike against the company in US history.
The Teamsters say they represent nearly 10,000 workers at 10 Amazon facilities, a small portion of the 1.5million people Amazon employs in its warehouses and corporate offices. At one warehouse, located in New York City’s Staten Island borough, thousands of workers who voted for the Amazon Labor Union in 2022 and have since affiliated with the Teamsters. At the other facilities, employees - including many delivery drivers - have unionised with them by demonstrating majority support but without holding government-administered elections.
The strikes happening Thursday are taking place at one Amazon warehouse in San Francisco, California, and six delivery stations in southern California, New York City, Atlanta, Georgia, and Skokie, Illinois, according to the union’s announcement. Amazon workers at the other facilities are “prepared to join”, the union said.
