The International Brotherhood of Teamsters labor union announced the “largest strike against Amazon in American history” beginning this week—just days before Christmas and Hanukkah—after negotiations for new employee contracts fell through.
“The nationwide action follows Amazon’s repeated refusal to follow the law and bargain with the thousands of Amazon workers who organized with the Teamsters,” the union stated.
One of the largest unions in the country, the Teamsters represent 1.3 million workers across the United States, Puerto Rico, and Canada.
Sean O’Brien, the Teamsters’ general president, held Amazon responsible for any delivery delays that customers may experience.
“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,” he said.
“These greedy executives had every chance to show decency and respect for the people who make their obscene profits possible. Instead, they’ve pushed workers to the limit and now they’re paying the price. This strike is on them,” O’Brien said.
Almost 10,000 Amazon workers have joined the union, demanding better benefits, higher wages, and a safer working environment.
In an earlier emailed statement to The Epoch Times, Amazon spokesperson Eileen Hards dismissed the Teamsters’ claims and said the union “intentionally misled the public” by saying it represents “thousands of Amazon employees and drivers.”
“They don’t, and this is another attempt to push a false narrative,” Hards said.
“The truth is that the Teamsters have actively threatened, intimidated, and attempted to coerce Amazon employees and third-party drivers to join them, which is illegal and is the subject of multiple pending unfair labor practice charges against the union.”
Amazon workers from the following facilities are to join the picket lines: DGT8 in Atlanta, DBK4 in New York City, DCK6 in San Francisco, DIL7 in Skokie, and DFX4, DAX5, and DAX8 in Southern California.
Workers from other facilities are prepared to join in the strikes as well, according to the union.
Package Delays, Lawmaker Scrutiny
The strike coincides with the hectic holiday season and has the potential to significantly disrupt the company’s delivery operations.The National Retail Federation is expecting holiday spending to hit a record of nearly $1 trillion between Nov. 1 and Dec. 31, much of which is likely to be generated by Amazon orders.
Lawmakers have highlighted issues with Amazon’s work practices. A recent report from the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions said the company’s “obsession with speed” was creating “uniquely dangerous warehouses.”
“An analysis of the company’s data shows that Amazon warehouses recorded over 30 percent more injuries than the warehousing industry average in 2023,” it said.
Amazon dismissed these claims in a statement, calling the report’s premise “fundamentally flawed.”
“If that were accurate, what you’d see is that as our productivity and speed goes up, injuries go up. But what’s actually happened over the past five years is exactly the opposite—we’ve increased our delivery speeds, while decreasing the injury rates across our network,” the company stated.
The Act seeks to ban “dangerous work speed quotas” for warehouse workers, a practice that results in “high rates of worker injuries,” according to a Sept. 3 statement from Markey. Companies would be obligated to provide workers with written notice of the quotas applicable to them.
“Approximately one out of every 170 U.S. workers is an Amazon employee, underscoring our particular interest in ensuring that the company’s employment practices are fair, and in accordance with the law,” the lawmakers said at the time.
