Amazon workers go on strike amid holiday season
Amazon workers affiliated with the Teamsters union continued a strike Friday at seven of the company’s delivery hubs just days before Christmas. Madison Alworth with FOX Business has the latest.
The Teamsters union issued a warning Thursday that holiday packages could be delayed as thousands of Amazon workers joined picket lines to fight for a fair union contract that guarantees wages, health care and safety.
However, Amazon told FOX Business that it doesn’t expect any impact on operations.
Amazon Teamsters at seven facilities in Skokie, Illinois; New York City; Atlanta; San Francisco; and Southern California are participating in the “largest strike” against the trillion-dollar company in American history, the union said in a news release. Workers at other facilities are prepared to join them.
“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,” Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien said in a statement.
Though the Teamsters union says it represents about 10,000 people across 10 Amazon facilities in the U.S., Amazon said it doesn’t recognize workers’ affiliation with the union.
Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel told FOX Business in a statement that this is an “attempt to push a false narrative.”
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“Teamsters have continued to intentionally mislead the public — claiming that they represent ‘thousands of Amazon employees and drivers.’ They don’t,” Nantel said, adding 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.”
Staff at the Amazon Swansea fulfilment center in Swansea, Wales, process orders on Nov. 26, 2010. (Matt Cardy/Getty Images / Getty Images)
The strike began after the teamsters at the DCK6 Amazon facility in San Francisco voted to authorize a strike in their fight for union recognition and a fair contract.
The Teamsters said they had set a Dec. 15 deadline for the company to negotiate a labor agreement.
The union also claimed that over 20 bargaining units, representing nearly 9,000 employees, have successfully organized and that the company “threatens, intimidates and coerces its workers by unleashing union busters to swarm facilities.”
Fox News’ Elizabeth Pritchett contributed to this report.
