After labor talks came to a standstill, Amazon employees at four locations in California will join their striking coworkers on the picket line Thursday morning.
The decision, according to the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the union that represents 10,000 Amazon employees, was made in response to allegations that the firm will not negotiate a fair contract and will not recognize their union. Employees at two Los Angeles County facilities—one in San Bernardino County and another in San Francisco County—will start forming picket lines outside their warehouses at 3 a.m. Pacific time.
“We set a firm deadline for Amazon to attend the meeting and treat our members fairly. “They disregarded it,” claimed Sean M. O’Brien, general president of the Teamsters.
Amazon said after the announcement that the Teamsters’ most recent action is “another attempt to push a false narrative” and that the union has “continued to intentionally mislead the public” by asserting that it represents Amazon drivers and employees.
“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,” Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel said.
Workers in Atlanta, New York City, and the Chicago suburbs will all participate in the walkout at their individual workplaces.
It’s unclear how the strike would impact customers with just one week till Christmas.
Juan De Lara, an associate professor at USC, stated, “What we learned from the pandemic is that any potential disruption can cause ripple effects up and down the supply chain.”
At the university, De Lara researches labor, unions, and warehouse occupations.
“It could be that they can handle it and there will be no problems,” he stated. “It could be that one small element of their supply chain gets disrupted and that has ripple effects and that can be calamitous for the company.”
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