Amazon staff are taking part in the biggest strike in union history.
In a press release, the Teamsters announced that the workers will begin striking on the morning of Thursday, Dec. 19.
“The nationwide action follows Amazon’s repeated refusal to follow the law and bargain with the thousands of Amazon workers who organized with the Teamsters,” the release states.
The strike, which has been described as the largest in American history, began at 6 a.m EST, less than one week before Christmas and the start of Hanukkah.
Amazon Fulfillment center.
Bing Guan/Bloomberg via Getty
With almost 10,000 Amazon workers joining the Teamsters to fight for safer working conditions, higher wages and improvement on benefits, the fate of many customers’ packages remains unknown.
“If your package is delayed during the holidays, you can blame Amazon’s insatiable greed, ” Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien said in a statement.
He added, “We gave Amazon a clear deadline to come to the table and do right by our members. They ignored it.”
Amazon Prime truck.
Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty
“These greedy executives had every chance to show decency and respect for the people who make their obscene profits possible,” he continued.
Workers will strike at Amazon facilities in New York, Atlanta, Ga., Southern California, San Francisco and Skokie, Ill.
The labor union has argued that Amazon, which is worth $2 trillion, has not paid their workers enough to “make ends meet.”
“Amazon is one of the biggest, richest corporations in the world,” Gabriel Irizarry, an Amazon driver in Skokie, Ill., stated, per the release. “They talk a big game about taking care of their workers, but when it comes down to it, Amazon does not respect us and our right to negotiate for better working conditions and wages. We can’t even afford to pay our bills.”
In a statement obtained by PEOPLE, a spokesperson for Amazon claimed that the Teamsters illegally influenced staff to join them.
“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 spokesperson Kelly Nantel, said.
Nantel, added, “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.”
The spokesperson also said that “over the past six years” Amazon increased the starting minimum wage for workers in fulfillment centers and transportation employees in the US by 20% and in September increased the average base wage to $22 per hour, “($29 if you include benefits).”
