Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien, center, is shown rallying with Amazon workers outside the Staten Island Amazon facility JFK8, June 19, 2024, in New York.
Stefan Jeremiah/AP
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Stefan Jeremiah/AP
About 10,000 Amazon workers have authorized a strike to begin Thursday morning, as they seek better pay, safer conditions and longer breaks.
The Teamsters union says workers in New York City, Atlanta, California and Illinois are joining the picket line. Warehouse workers and drivers at other facilities are prepared to strike, as well.
The strike comes amid a key shopping period, but there has been no word on how long the strike is expected to last.
“If your package is delayed during the holidays, you can blame Amazon’s insatiable greed,” Teamsters President Sean O’Brien said. “We gave Amazon a clear deadline to come to the table and do right by our members. They ignored it.”
Amazon workers in Staten Island, New York, became the first to unionize in 2022. But Amazon has continuously fought the decision in court, arguing that union leaders influenced how workers voted, an argument the National Labor Relations Board dismissed almost two years ago.
They began as a small, independent union called the Amazon Labor Union, but in June, merged with Teamsters, which represents 1.3 million people across the U.S. and Canada.
“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,” Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel said in a statement, reported The Associated Press.
Some of those striking include third-party contractors. Teamsters used the terms “workers” and “members” in their statement about the strike.
Almost half of the people planning to strike are members of the Staten Island union.
Gabriel Irizarry, a driver who works in Skokie, Illinois, said, “Amazon is one of the biggest, richest corporations in the world. They talk a big game about taking care of their workers, but when it comes down to it, Amazon does not respect us and our right to negotiate for better working conditions and wages. We can’t even afford to pay our bills.”
Leah Pensler, a warehouse worker in San Francisco said, “What we’re doing is historic. We are fighting against a vicious union-busting campaign, and we are going to win.”
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