1000’s of Teamsters union members went on strike in opposition to Amazon early Thursday morning at seven services in 4 states throughout the nation. This, in fact, is all occurring at a deeply essential time of yr for the web retail big: 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 staff walked off the job, in line with a press release from the Teamsters. Along with that, native unions will put up major picket strains at a whole lot of Amazon Achievement Facilities nationwide. This may occasionally find yourself being an actual mess, however Amazon isn’t too frightened. The corporate advised CNN that the putting Teamsters account for lower than 1 p.c of its U.S. workforce.
Within the launch, the union stated its motion was the “largest strike in opposition to Amazon in U.S. historical past.” It added that this motion comes after Amazon refused to cut price with staff who organized with the union. It additionally stated to not blame union members in case your packages are delayed.
“In case your package deal is delayed through the holidays, you’ll be able to blame Amazon’s insatiable greed. We gave Amazon a transparent deadline to return to the desk and do proper by our members. They ignored it. These grasping executives had each likelihood to indicate decency and respect for the individuals who make their obscene earnings doable. As an alternative, they’ve pushed staff to the restrict and now they’re paying the worth,” Sean M. O’Brien, Teamsters Normal President, stated 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 yr now, the Teamsters have continued to deliberately mislead the general public – claiming that they characterize ‘hundreds of Amazon staff and drivers’. They don’t, and that is one other try to push a false narrative,” Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel stated. “The reality is that the Teamsters have actively threatened, intimidated, and tried to coerce Amazon staff and third-party drivers to affix them, which is prohibited and is the topic of a number of pending unfair labor apply expenses in opposition to the union.”
The spokesperson stated the corporate has elevated the beginning minimal wage for staff in achievement facilities and transportation staff by 20% and in September elevated common base wage to $22 per hour.
That is the newest within the combat between Amazon and unions. Again in 2022, Amazon staff at a facility in Staten Island voted to unionize, making them the primary group at Amazon to take action. Since then, staff 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 staff on the facility. Amazon has appealed that ruling.
Anyway, please strive to consider this in case your Christmas present is a bit late this yr: is it value it to have objects present up at your door instantly if the parents bringing it to you aren’t being handled pretty? I personally don’t assume so, and I hope you are feeling the identical manner.
