NEW YORK – The Teamsters union is launching a strike against Amazon in numerous locations across the country, including Maspeth, Queens.
The Teamsters are calling it the largest strike against Amazon in U.S. history and will begin at 6 a.m. Thursday. In addition to New York City, workers will also leave their jobs in Atlanta, Southern CaliforniaSan Francisco and a suburb of Chicago.
In a video announcement released Wednesday evening, workers expressed their frustrations.
“Being ready for a strike means we are fed up, and Amazon is clearly ignoring us and we want to be heard,” an employee says in the video.
“It’s really exciting. We are taking steps for ourselves to get better conditions, better working conditions and better wages,” says another worker in the video.
The union says it represents about 10,000 Amazon workers and that Amazon refused to come to the table to negotiate. The $2 trillion company isn’t paying its workers enough to make ends meet, the union claims.
At the height of the holiday season, many are wondering what this means for packages currently in transit.
Teamsters president Sean O’Brien said, “If your package is delayed during the holidays, you can blame Amazon’s insatiable greed.”
Amazon says Teamsters are misleading the public
An Amazon spokesperson says the Teamsters are misleading the public and do not represent Amazon employees, despite any claims.
“The truth is that the Teamsters have actively threatened, intimidated, and attempted to coerce Amazon workers and third-party drivers into joining their ranks, which is illegal and the subject of multiple pending unfair labor practice charges against the union,” the union said. spokesman. in a statement.
An Amazon representative says the company does not expect its operations to be affected.
