Amazon workers across seven facilities in New York, Georgia, California, and Illinois launched a strike on Thursday, demanding better benefits, higher wages, and improved safety measures.
Organized by the Teamsters union, the strike aims to pressure Amazon into negotiating a contract and prevent potential disruptions during the critical holiday shopping season. The union had previously set a deadline for Amazon to commit to bargaining dates, which the company did not meet.
“If your holiday packages are delayed, blame Amazon’s relentless greed,” said Teamsters President Sean O’Brien in a statement. “We gave Amazon a clear deadline to do right by our members, and they chose to ignore it.”
Teamsters President Sean O’Brien
In response, Amazon told CNBC that the Teamsters are engaged in a yearlong campaign to “intentionally mislead the public.” According to Amazon, the majority of the protesters are not its employees but external participants, which the company deemed “inappropriate and dangerous.” Amazon emphasized its commitment to ensuring customers receive their holiday orders on time.
The Teamsters claim to represent nearly 10,000 Amazon workers—less than 1% of Amazon’s 1.53 million global workforce as of December 2023. Despite this, the union describes Thursday’s strike as the largest labor action against Amazon in U.S. history.
Amazon has historically resisted unionization efforts among its workforce. However, a breakthrough occurred in 2022 when warehouse workers in Staten Island voted to form a union, marking a significant defeat for Amazon. In June 2023, the Amazon Labor Union, which led the Staten Island initiative, voted to affiliate with the Teamsters after struggling to secure a contract with the company.
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