Amazon hit with Teamsters strike at 7 facilities

The Teamsters union launched a strike against retail giant Amazon Thursday, with workers at seven U.S. facilities walking out.

In a statement Thursday, Teamsters General President Sean O’Brien said the union struck this week after Amazon failed to meet its Sunday deadline to come to the bargaining table.

“If your package is delayed during the holidays, you can blame Amazon’s insatiable greed. We gave Amazon a clear deadline to come to the table and do right by our members. They ignored it,” Mr. O’Brien said. “These greedy executives had every chance to show decency and respect for the people who make their obscene profits possible.”

The strikes began at 6 a.m. Thursday, with workers at the seven Amazon facilities leaving work in California, New York and Georgia. The Teamsters didn’t confirm how long the work stoppage would take place, but it could stretch into Christmas Day.

Amazon could not be reached for comment.

While the Teamsters claim that over 10,000 Amazon workers are striking, that’s a small fraction of the company’s U.S. workforce.

Before the Dec. 15 bargaining deadline, smaller picket lines popped up in Illinois and New York this month, with employees demanding Amazon bargain with its unionized workers.

Amazon said at the time that it was prepared for any small-scale strikes over the holidays.

“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,” Amazon spokeswoman Eileen Hards said in a statement. “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.”