Thousands of Amazon staff are gearing as much as strike from Thursday, days earlier than Christmas, over the tech big’s refusal to start negotiations over a contract.
Union locals are making ready members for pickets and actions outdoors Amazon services across the US.
Amazon was given a deadline of 15 December to comply with open talks with staff on the firm’s JFK8 warehouse in Staten Island, which turned the primary Amazon warehouse within the US to win a union election in 2022.
“Our sisters and brothers at Amazon want our assist and assist – now’s the time to point out them what being a part of the Teamster household is all about,” wrote Teamsters native 299 in Detroit in a Facebook put up, which introduced strike shifts at an Amazon facility in metro Detroit on 19 and 20 December.
The Teamsters didn’t instantly reply for remark. The put up by Teamsters native 299 was later deleted.
A flyer from Teamsters native 206 in Portland, Oregon, additionally introduced a picket at an Amazon warehouse on Thursday and Friday. “Amazon has refused to acknowledge or discount with the Teamsters at its services,” it mentioned.
Amazon staff in Staten Island; at DBK4 in Queens, New York; 4 services in southern California; and drivers at DIL7 in Skokie, Illinois, voted to authorize strikes over the previous week. Workers at two Amazon services outdoors Atlanta have threatened to strike.
In an announcement saying the 4 California facility strike authorization votes, the Teamsters basic president Sean O’Brien mentioned: “The company elitists who run Amazon are leaving staff with no alternative. Greedy executives are pushing 1000’s of hardworking Americans to the brink.
“Amazon rakes in more cash than anyone, they topic staff to harm and abuse at each flip, and so they illegally declare to not be the rightful employer of practically half their workforce.
“This rigged system can not proceed. Amazon have to be held accountable to staff and customers alike. If staff are pressured onto the picket line, Amazon will probably be hanging itself.”
Amazon criticized the Teamsters because the strike authorization votes have been introduced.
Spokesperson Eileen Hands mentioned in an announcement: “The reality is that the Teamsters have actively threatened, intimidated, and tried to coerce Amazon workers and third-party drivers to affix them, which is against the law and is the topic of a number of pending unfair labor follow expenses towards the union.”
