On Thursday, Amazon workers at delivery centers in the City of Industry, Palmdale and Victorville joined a nationwide strike organized by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. Workers are demanding better pay, improved workplace conditions and livable wages as part of a broader push to secure a collective-bargaining agreement with the company.
Teamsters officials told NPR that they’re committed to expanding strikes at “hundreds” of Amazon packing and delivery hubs across the U.S. by Christmas and Hanukkah. Amazon says they’re not expecting customer orders to be disrupted.
At the DAX5 facility in the City of Industry, drivers and union organizers walked off the job around 6 a.m. and orchestrated pickets, while deriding the company’s CEO Jeff Bezos through protest chants. They also blocked exits in order to speak to drivers about the unionization effort.
“On November 14, we did a march on the boss, in which we served them with legal documents to let them know that we reached a majority and that we wanted to be recognized as a union,” said driver Alfredo Muñoz. “We gave them 30 days, which [was] December 15 to come to the negotiating table, and they failed to do so. And this is where we're at.”
Amazon spokesperson Eileen Hards accused the Teamsters in a statement of misleading the public about representing thousands of workers.
“They don’t, and this is another attempt to push a false narrative,” reads Hards’ 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."
Randy Korgan, the director of Amazon’s Teamsters Division and secretary of Teamsters Local 1932, told KVCR on Wednesday he believes Teamsters aren't doing anything illegal.
“Why would we,” Korgan said. “It is impossible to work with people if you're threatening, intimidating or coercing them in a negative way,” he said.
Teamsters argue Amazon is a joint employer of third-party drivers given the level of control the company has over their wages and working conditions. Amazon disputes this and has asked a federal court to step in.
Richard Smith, 40, who works for one of Amazon’s Delivery Services Partners, considers Amazon’s challenge as contradicting.
“I look at it differently. We literally have to follow [Amazon’s] standards,” said Smith. “I drive their vans. I wear their uniform. I deliver their packages. I am the face of their company. We are the drivers out here delivering smiles to these customers.”
Vanessa Valdez, 44, has worked as a driver at DAX5 for six years. She’s striking because while her workload is increasing, her pay isn’t.
“I would love to have job security, to know that I have a place here in another six years and not be let go as I age,” she said. “I would love to have access to better benefits.
Valdez acknowledged she still feels some fear when criticizing Amazon, but she says workers can inform themselves and “recognize their own worth.”
“They want to wash their hands of our anguish, of our work, of our pain,” she said. “Not anymore.”
This story includes reporting from NPR
