KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI / AFP through Getty Images
What you need to know
- Teamsters reports that Amazon drivers and warehouse employees at various locations went on strike early Thursday morning.
- Workers planned to picket because Amazon hasn't responded to negotiation attempts, Teamsters said.
- Amazon said Thursday that the strikes haven't disrupted operations.
Amazon employees in various locations went on strike early Thursday, after their union, Teamsters said that the online retailer had repeatedly refused to bargain with them.
Kara Deniz, a union spokesperson at Investopedia, said that after Teamsters failed to convince Amazon (AMZN), to begin the negotiation process 20 times in a row to their satisfaction. Teamsters stated that workers are looking for better benefits and wages, as well as safer working conditions.
The union reported that Teamsters organized pickets in New York City and Atlanta, California, as Amazon ramps up its business ahead of the holiday season.
“We gave Amazon a clear deadline to come to the table and do right by our members," said Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien. "They ignored it.”
A Teamsters statement cited the involvement of "thousands" of Amazon workers. Amazon disputed that workers looked to the union for representation, and said early Thursday that the strike hasn't disrupted operations.
“What you see here are almost entirely outsiders—not Amazon employees or partners,” Kelly Nantel is the Amazon spokesperson. “They were unable to get enough support from our employees and partners and have brought in outsiders to come and harass and intimidate our team, which is inappropriate and dangerous.”
In a Teamsters release, Amazon employees said that the company had not done enough to ensure their safety and financial stability. One worker noted in her statement that she was struggling to pay for bills. According to a company statement sent by Investopedia, it raised the starting wage for transportation and fulfillment employees from $1.50 per hour in 2006 to $2.25 over six years. It also invested millions in safety programs.
Starbucks (SBUX), workers also consider intensifying their unionization campaigns this winter. According to Starbucks Workers United, a group that organizes baristas, they voted on Tuesday for a strike.
Amazon employees in Staten Island voted to form a union for the first time in 2022. Several campaigns have failed to bring about unionization at other Amazon locations.
Amazon said that sales soared from Black Friday to Cyber Monday and reached new heights.
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