US Amazon workers go on ‘largest’ strike against company, Teamsters union says
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Employees at seven facilities including New York, Atlanta and San Francisco take action in demand of contract talks. Amazon workers at seven US facilities walked off the job early on Thursday during the holiday shopping rush, aiming to pressure the retailer into contract talks with their union.
Warehouse workers in cities including New York, Atlanta and San Francisco are taking part in the “largest” strike against Amazon, said the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which represents about 10,000 workers at 10 of the firm’s facilities.
“What we’re doing is historic,” said Leah Pensler, a warehouse worker at DCK6 in San Francisco in a press release announcing the strike. “We are fighting against a vicious union-busting campaign, and we are going to win.”. Teamsters locals are also starting picket lines at hundreds of Amazon sites around the US in support of the strike, the Teamsters said, and argued Amazon warehouse workers and delivery drivers have the legal right to honor those picket lines.
The company, however, said it does not expect any effect on its operations during one of the busiest times of the year. Unions represent only about 1% of the workforce of Amazon, one of the largest companies in the US by market value, and it has multiple locations in several metro areas.
The union had given Amazon a 15 December deadline to begin negotiations and warehouse workers had recently voted to authorize a strike. “If your package is delayed during the holidays, you can blame Amazon’s insatiable greed,” the Teamsters’ general president, Sean O’Brien, said late on Wednesday.
