Workers at an Amazon warehouse in Riverside staged an early-morning walkout yesterday, protesting what they describe as unfair labor practices. The union that is supporting them, Teamsters International, says workers are demanding improvements to working conditions and better pay.
Some employees at the DJT6 facility walked off the job during the overnight shift around 1 a.m. Tuesday morning, while others later joined a picket line outside the warehouse that lasted for about five hours. The action is part of a broader effort by Amazon workers to organize with the Teamsters union.
“If you're going to anchor down and put in thousands of jobs, don't you think you should pay people enough to buy a home in the area you’re living and working in?” said Randy Korgan, director of the Teamsters’ Amazon Division and secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 1932. “That’s not asking too much.”
According to the Teamsters, workers at the Riverside facility are joining employees at four other Southern California Amazon locations who have already begun organizing efforts, including sites in San Bernardino, City of Industry, Victorville and Palmdale.
Maricruz Delgadillo, a general warehouse associate at the Riverside facility, said the demonstration was meant to show workers that collective action is possible.
“We’re tired every day, and sometimes it feels like we’re just people that work at Amazon,” Delgadillo said. “People assume the company is so big that there’s no changing it. What we showed today is that we do have power...we’re the people who make them their billions of dollars.”
In a statement, Amazon spokeswoman Eileen Hards said "less than one percent of employees" at the Riverside site participated and claimed most people involved were outside organizers.
“Today's demonstration by the Teamsters is another example of their continuing illegal efforts to intimidate workers, block entry and exit to our facilities, and interfere with our operations,” Hards said. “Our employees have the choice of whether or not to join a union. They always have.”
Hards says the company's average base hourly wage now exceeds $23 an hour, with total compensation averaging about $30 an hour when benefits are included.
Despite the company’s claims, Delgadillo said workers are not discouraged by Amazon’s response.
“They want to make us feel small,” she said. “They don’t want to recognize that this is happening, but it is.”
