Amazon Teamsters go on strike in Southern California, elsewhere

Workers at four Amazon warehouses in Southern California were on strike Thursday, claiming the retail giant refuses to recognize their union and negotiate fair contracts.

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, representing 1.3 million workers in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico, announced their members in Palmdale, Victorville, Industry and San Bernardino voted to authorize strikes. The strike authorization was in response to Amazon ignoring a Sunday deadline for a collective bargaining meeting, according to the union.

Amazon Teamsters went on strike at 3 a.m., joining unionized Amazon workers at facilities across the country who also went on strike.

“The corporate elitists who run Amazon are leaving workers with no choice,” Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien said in a statement.

“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.” O’Brien said. “These greedy executives had every chance to show decency and respect for the people who make their obscene profits possible. Instead, they’ve pushed workers to the limit and now they’re paying the price. This strike is on them.”

Amazon spokeswoman Eileen Hards said the Teamsters have misled the public for over a year by falsely claiming they represent thousands of Amazon employees and drivers.

“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,” Hards said in a statement.

The SoCal workers are joining employees who also recently authorized similar strikes at sites located in San Francisco, New York City, Atlanta and Illinois.

These Amazon facilities in Southern California would be affected:

• DFX4 located at 15272 Bear Valley Road, Victorville;

• DAX5 located at 15930 Valley Blvd., Industry;

• DAX8 located at 600 W. Technology Drive, Palmdale; and

• KSBD air hub located at the San Bernardino International Airport.

Union officials called the work stoppage “the largest strike against Amazon in U.S. history” and noted that Amazon, worth more than $2 trillion, is the second-largest corporation on the Fortune 500 list.

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