Hundreds of Teamsters union members went on strike towards Amazon early Thursday morning at seven services in 4 states throughout the nation. This, after all, is all occurring at a deeply crucial time of 12 months for the web retail large: the vacation season.
The strike started at 6 a.m. on December 19 at services in New York Metropolis, Atlanta, SoCal, San Francisco and Illinois, as almost 10,000 Amazon employees walked off the job, in response to a press release from the Teamsters. Along with that, native unions will put up major picket traces at a whole bunch of Amazon Success Facilities nationwide. This may occasionally find yourself being an actual mess, however Amazon isn’t too anxious. The corporate advised CNN that the placing Teamsters account for lower than 1 p.c of its U.S. workforce.
Within the launch, the union mentioned its motion was the “largest strike towards Amazon in U.S. historical past.” It added that this motion comes after Amazon refused to cut price with employees who organized with the union. It additionally mentioned to not blame union members in case your packages are delayed.
“In case your bundle is delayed throughout the holidays, you’ll be able to blame Amazon’s insatiable greed. We gave Amazon a transparent deadline to come back to the desk and do proper by our members. They ignored it. These grasping executives had each likelihood to point out decency and respect for the individuals who make their obscene income potential. As an alternative, they’ve pushed employees to the restrict and now they’re paying the worth,” Sean M. O’Brien, Teamsters Normal President, mentioned in a statement. “This strike is on them.”
Shockingly, Amazon is pointing the finger on the Teamsters for this dispute. Right here’s its assertion to ABC Information:
“For greater than a 12 months now, the Teamsters have continued to deliberately mislead the general public – claiming that they signify ‘1000’s of Amazon staff and drivers’. They don’t, and that is one other try and push a false narrative,” Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel mentioned. “The reality is that the Teamsters have actively threatened, intimidated, and tried to coerce Amazon staff and third-party drivers to hitch them, which is unlawful and is the topic of a number of pending unfair labor observe fees towards the union.”
The spokesperson mentioned the corporate has elevated the beginning minimal wage for employees in success facilities and transportation staff by 20% and in September elevated common base wage to $22 per hour.
That is the newest within the struggle between Amazon and unions. Again in 2022, Amazon employees at a facility in Staten Island voted to unionize, making them the primary group at Amazon to take action. Since then, employees there say the corporate has refused to acknowledge the union and negotiate a contract. That is although the Nationwide Labor Relations Board formally licensed the union representing employees on the facility. Amazon has appealed that ruling.
Anyway, please attempt to consider this in case your Christmas present is a bit late this 12 months: is it value it to have objects present up at your door instantly if the oldsters bringing it to you aren’t being handled pretty? I personally don’t assume so, and I hope you are feeling the identical approach.
