Amazon drivers, all of them in the Teamsters Union, went on strike in seven places across four states just days off from Christmas Day. Getting worried about deliveries, customers have been assured by Amazon that shipments will proceed without any delay. The Teamsters claim to be representing about 7000 Amazon workers in America; they still form less than 1% of the workforce in the U.S. employed by the company.
The meat of the strike rests on wages, benefits, and Amazon’s refusal to consider these employees as working for it. The workers are dressed in Amazon vests and use Amazon-branded vans, delivering solely for the company, while Amazon remains that they are under the employment of a contractor. “If your package is not delivered at the holiday, blame it on Amazon’s insatiable greed. We gave them a nice, pretty deadline to make things right with our members. They dicked around and ignored it,” said Teamsters President Sean O’Brien in his statement on X (formerly Twitter).
Luke Cianciotto, who strikes as a driver in Skokie, Illinois, emphasized the financial difficulties many have to endure. “We are fighting for basic benefits and wages that are standard in the industry. Many of us cannot afford presents to be given to our families this Christmas.”
In its counter, Amazon stated that the Teamsters did not represent its employees but rather called the strike a publicity stunt. According to spokesperson Kelly Nantel, “The Teamsters’ conduct this week is unlawful. They represent no Amazon employees whatsoever, despite their claims.”
From Queens, New York, the strike started and soon moved to sites in Illinois, Georgia, and California. The impact on deliveries would be minimal, according to experts such as Satish Jindel, president of ShipMatrix. “Amazon has such a strong network that it will be able to reroute the packages. A few get delayed by a day or two, but it won’t be a major disruption.”
Union tensions and struggles over recognition
According to Teamsters, Amazon is engaging third-party contractors on employees to escape direct talks with such drivers. For Ash’shura Brooks, a striker from Skokie, the company’s refusal to acknowledge them as employees sounds “heartbreaking.”
As far as Cianciotto explains, these third-party contractors’ roles would not exist at all without America. But the union’s strategy of proving Amazon is a joint employer won’t come so easily. Right now, business groups clamoring against the proposed rule, including Amazon, are fighting tooth and nail to end up aborting such a connection.
Relative to this, more problems surfaced when the picketing extended beyond the struck facilities to other Amazon hubs. Amazon called these intimidation tactics, something Teamsters denied. “These are Teamsters showing solidarity; they are not intimidating anyone,” explained David Estes, a union member who joined the protests in Washington.
The greater issue for the union is to secure formal recognition. While the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) certified the victory of the union at Amazon’s Staten Island facility in 2022, Amazon was quick to file appeals to dispute the vote on the argument that it was unfair. Other unionization attempts at Amazon facilities have met failure.
Such organizations, however, have battered situations within the Teamsters. “It’s people over packages; it’s people over profits,” said Brooks, symbolizing the union’s focus on improving conditions for workers and not on the profits of Amazon, which earned more than $39 billion over the first nine months of 2024.
Teamsters are gearing up for the strike toward negotiating with Amazon just as the holiday season draws closer. It remains to be seen whether this would earn them the fortune they seek or light the fire of an already heated dispute. In the meantime, Amazon continues focusing on the fulfillment of its holiday orders, during which the workers and the union press for recognition and better terms.
