Thousands of Amazon workers are gearing up to strike from Thursday, days before Christmas, over the tech giant’s refusal to begin negotiations over a contract.
Union locals are preparing members for pickets and actions outside Amazon facilities around the US.
Amazon was given a deadline of 15 December to agree to open talks with workers at the company’s JFK8 warehouse in Staten Island, which became the first Amazon warehouse in the US to win a union election in 2022.
“Our sisters and brothers at Amazon need our help and support – now is the time to show them what being part of the Teamster family is all about,” wrote Teamsters local 299 in Detroit in a Facebook post, which announced strike shifts at an Amazon facility in metro Detroit on 19 and 20 December.
The Teamsters did not immediately respond for comment. The post by Teamsters local 299 was later deleted.
A flyer from Teamsters local 206 in Portland, Oregon, also announced a picket at an Amazon warehouse on Thursday and Friday. “Amazon has refused to recognize or bargain with the Teamsters at its facilities,” it said.
Amazon workers in Staten Island; at DBK4 in Queens, New York; four facilities in southern California; and drivers at DIL7 in Skokie, Illinois, voted to authorize strikes over the past week. Workers at two Amazon facilities outside Atlanta have threatened to strike.
In a statement announcing the four California facility strike authorization votes, the Teamsters general president Sean O’Brien said: “The corporate elitists who run Amazon are leaving workers with no choice. Greedy executives are pushing thousands of hardworking Americans to the brink.
“Amazon rakes in more money than anybody, they subject workers to injury and abuse at every turn, and they illegally claim not to be the rightful employer of nearly half their workforce.
“This rigged system cannot continue. Amazon must be held accountable to workers and consumers alike. If workers are forced onto the picket line, Amazon will be striking itself.”
Amazon criticized the Teamsters as the strike authorization votes were announced.
Spokesperson Eileen Hands said in a statement: “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.”
