Amazon drivers in southern California walk off job

A group of 84 unionized Amazon drivers in California walked off the job Thursday in protest of the company’s policies and refusal to bargain with the Teamsters.

Amazon contends that since the drivers at the Palmdale facility work for Amazon delivery partner Battle-Tested Strategies rather than the company itself, it is not obligated to bargain with the Teamsters Local 396 union, with whom the drivers are affiliated.

 Battle-Tested Strategies signed a union contract with the drivers in April, the first-such contract for drivers in Amazon’s delivery network. 

Thursday’s walkout is the first-ever Amazon driver’s strike in the United States, according to the Teamsters. 

The union says Amazon has total control over Battle-Tested Strategies and argues that ending unfair labor practices requires Amazon’s adherence to the contract with the company. The contract mandates safe equipment for drivers and allows them to refuse what they consider to be unsafe deliveries.

Chief among the drivers’ concerns is their safety, particularly in the summer swelter. Temperatures in Palmdale, about 50 miles north of Los Angeles, can hit triple digits during the summer.

“The back of an Amazon van feels like an oven in the summer. I’ve felt dizzy and dehydrated, but if I take a break, I’ll get a call asking why I’m behind on deliveries. We are protecting ourselves and saying our safety comes first,” driver Cecilia Porter said in a statement from the Teamsters.

Inside Amazon vans, the heat can climb well past 120 degrees, drivers say. 

“The vans we have — it’s a big metal container. In the extreme heat it can get upwards of 130, 135 degrees inside the van … the only comparison I can give you is like walking into an oven … I go through 10-12 bottles of water a day, and I urinate once,” Amazon driver and Teamsters member Rajpal Singh told Vice.

The Teamsters also says Amazon terminated its contract with Battle-Tested Strategies because workers organized to join a union worker organizing. The group filed an unfair labor practice complaint to the National Labor Relations Board in May over the contract termination.

Amazon, meanwhile, says that Battle-Tested Strategies failed to live up to its standards.

“While we respect everyone’s right to express their opinions, the facts here are being intentionally misrepresented … This company has a history of underperformance and not providing a safe environment, and was notified that Amazon was ending their contract before the Teamsters got involved to try and rewrite the facts,” Amazon spokesperson Eileen Hards said in a statement.

It was not disclosed when Amazon’s contract with Battle-Tested Strategies will run out. Battle-Tested Strategies has not responded to a request for comment.