Thousands of Amazon workers are set to go on strike Thursday morning during the critical final days of the holiday season, citing the company’s refusal to negotiate union contracts.
According to union officials, the walkout will occur at several key facilities, potentially disrupting operations during Amazon’s busiest time of the year.
Unionised facilities account for only about 1% of Amazon’s hourly workforce, but the strike involves workers at warehouses in New York City, Skokie (Illinois), Atlanta, San Francisco, and southern California. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, representing about 10,000 workers at 10 US facilities, announced that employees at seven of these sites would participate in the strike.
Teamsters local unions are also staging picket lines at hundreds of Amazon Fulfillment Centres nationwide.
Union officials said workers voted to authorise the strike after Amazon missed a Sunday deadline to begin negotiations.
“Amazon clearly has developed a strategy of ignoring their workers’ rights to collectively organise and negotiate,” stated Benjamin Sachs, a Harvard Law School labour expert. He added that Amazon has yet to recognise the Staten Island warehouse workers who unionised in 2022.
Amazon has consistently resisted unionisation, maintaining that it prefers direct relationships with employees. The company has challenged unionisation efforts, including filing objections with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) over alleged biases in the Staten Island election and even questioning the NLRB’s constitutionality in a federal lawsuit.
Amazon has also accused the Teamsters of coercing workers to join illegally.
Observers, including Washington University sociology professor Jake Rosenfeld, believe Amazon is unlikely to engage with the Teamsters, as there is little legal pressure compelling it to do so.
“It’s been a very successful strategy; the work continues, and there is still no contract,” Rosenfeld said, pointing to the lack of progress at the Staten Island facility.
Amazon has faced labour unrest in other regions, including Spain and Germany, over pay and working conditions. As the world’s second-largest private employer, Amazon has drawn criticism for its focus on speed and efficiency, which some workers claim leads to injuries. In response, Amazon has highlighted its industry-leading wages and investments in automation to reduce repetitive stress.
In recent developments, an administrative judge ordered a third union election at an Alabama warehouse, ruling Amazon acted unlawfully during previous unionisation efforts.
Meanwhile, workers at a Philadelphia Whole Foods—acquired by Amazon in 2017—filed to hold a union election in November.
Amazon recently announced a $2.1 billion investment to raise pay for fulfilment and transportation employees, increasing base wages by at least $1.50 per hour, bringing the average to $22 per hour, a 7% increase.
However, these measures have not quelled union demands for broader improvements in wages and working conditions.
The Staten Island warehouse and another southern California facility may join the strike at any time, the Teamsters warned, intensifying the growing labour challenge Amazon faces amid the busy holiday period. An Amazon spokesperson declined to comment on the ongoing strike action.
Faridah Abdulkadiri
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