With Christmas just two days away, workers at four Amazon warehouses in Southern California are striking on Monday, accusing Amazon of refusing to recognize their union and negotiate fair contracts.
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which represents 1.3 million workers in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico, announced that its members in Palmdale, Victorville, Industry and San Bernardino voted to authorize the strike. The move comes after Amazon ignored a December 15 strike deadline. The union says it will bring them to the negotiating table.
Amazon workers represented by the union went on strike at 3 a.m. Thursday, joining Amazon union workers across the country who have also gone on strike.
“The corporate elites who run Amazon are not giving their employees a choice,” Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien said in a statement.
“Greedy executives are pushing thousands of hardworking Americans to the brink,” he continued. “Amazon rakes in more money than anyone else, regularly exposes its workers to injury and abuse, and illegally claims that nearly half of its workers are not its legitimate employer.”
Amazon’s Eileen Hurd said in a statement that the Teamsters have been intentionally misleading the public for more than a year, and are representing “thousands of Amazon employees and drivers” when that is not the case. He said that he claimed that
“The truth is that the Teamsters were actively trying to intimidate and intimidate Amazon employees and third-party drivers into joining the Teamsters, which is illegal and against the union. “It is the subject of multiple pending unfair labor practice charges,” Haas said.
The Southern California workers will join workers who recently authorized similar strikes at facilities in Illinois and New York City. Operations at the following Amazon facilities in California may be affected:
DFX4 is located at 15272 Bear Valley Road, Victorville. DAX5 is located at 15930 Valley Blvd., Industry. DAX8 is located at 600 W Technology Drive in Palmdale. KSBD Air Hub at San Bernardino International Airport
Union officials said the strike began at 3 a.m. Thursday and called the planned action “the largest strike against Amazon in U.S. history.”
