What's New
Thousands of Amazon workers will strike on Thursday, December 19, amidst the final days of holiday shopping, in what is being called the largest strike against Amazon in history.
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters—the union which represents around 1 percent of Amazon's workforce—is launching the strike. Workers at seven facilities will walkout on Thursday.
Why It Matters
Amazon is the second-largest company on the Fortune 500 list, and is worth over $2 trillion.
Amazon ships hundreds of millions of packages over the holiday season. According to a report from Bloomberg in January of this year, in 2023, Amazon accounted for 29 percent of all global online orders in the two weeks leading up to Christmas.
What We Know
The strike will pose a challenge to Amazon's operations, and may cause delays to deliveries, with the strike action coming during the company's busiest season of the year, though it is unclear at this time exactly what the impact of the strike will be.
In a press release, the Teamsters union said that the company "fails to pay its workers enough to make ends meet." Unionized workers are striking in order to seek contracts which guarantee better wages and working conditions.
The Teamsters Union had given Amazon a deadline of Sunday, December 15 to begin negotiations. Workers then voted to authorize a strike when negotiations did not take place.
Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel told Newsweek: "For more than a year now, the Teamsters have continued to intentionally mislead the public—claiming that they represent 'thousands of Amazon employees and drivers.'"
"They don't, and this is another attempt to push a false narrative," Nantel said. "The truth is that the Teamsters have actively threatened, intimidated, and attempted to coerce Amazon employees and third-party drivers to join them, which is illegal and is the subject of multiple pending unfair labor practice charges against the union."
In response to this, the Teamsters Union told Newsweek: "Amazon is gaslighting the American public with their false narratives. The truth is, over 20 bargaining units, representing nearly 9,000 employees have successfully organized because for many years the company has exploited and abused workers, and these workers are fed up and fighting back."
"Amazon threatens, intimidates, and coerces its workers by unleashing union busters to swarm facilities—spending $17 million from 2022 to 2023 on expensive consultants to try to deprive workers of their Constitutional right to freedom of association and union representation. Amazon workers have had enough and the Teamsters are ready to help them secure justice in their workplace," the statement read.
Earlier in the year, Amazon announced an investment of $2.1 billion, in order to raise pay for fulfilment and transportation employees in the U.S.
This increased base wages for employees, at least by $1.50, to approximately $22 per hour. This is an approximate increase of 7 percent.
What People Are Saying
Teamsters General President Sean M. O'Brien said in a press release: "If your package is delayed during the holidays, you can blame Amazon's insatiable greed.
"These greedy executives had every chance to show decency and respect for the people who make their obscene profits possible. Instead, they've pushed workers to the limit and now they're paying the price. This strike is on them."
In a press release shared by Teamsters, Leah Pensler, a warehouse worker in San Francisco, said: "What we're doing is historic. We are fighting against a vicious union-busting campaign, and we are going to win."
What's Next
With less than a week until Christmas, the impact of the Teamsters strike will soon be revealed, as customers will likely report and highlight any issues or delays with their orders.
Whether Amazon and Teamsters will enter negotiations, and the full impact of this strike, remains to be seen.
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