Amazon.com Inc. Workers at the company’s sole unionized warehouse in the US joined a broader strike by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.
The Teamsters-affiliated Amazon Labor Union, which represents workers at the JFK8 warehouse in New York City’s Staten Island, had asked members to walk off the job at midnight Saturday. Videos the group reposted on X showed people marching from the union’s office to the sprawling warehouse through a light snow, and rallying at the bus stop where workers first began organizing their colleagues three years ago.
They are demanding the company hold talks with workers there and at other facilities where Amazon employees or contract drivers have sought to be represented by the Teamsters.
Workers at one of Amazon’s air cargo hubs, in San Bernadino, California, were also joining the strike as of Saturday afternoon, the Teamsters said in a statement.
The Teamsters, which represent 1.3 million people, earlier this week asked workers at seven last-mile delivery warehouses, in California, Georgia, Illinois and New York, to strike beginning Thursday. It’s the biggest test to date of whether the union’s nascent organizing campaign has made inroads at the world’s largest online retailer. Teamsters employed by other companies have picketed additional Amazon warehouses.
Company spokespeople say the strike so far hasn’t impacted deliveries. And it’s unclear whether picketing the Staten Island facility, the only major fulfillment center in New York City, will disrupt operations. The company also has large warehouses in New Jersey and Connecticut, as well as several smaller delivery depots scattered throughout the five boroughs.
Workers at JFK8 voted to join the upstart ALU in 2022, a historic victory for those seeking to organize at America’s second-largest private employer. But the group subsequently descended into infighting and debates about strategy. Its prior leadership, unseated in an election earlier this year, had ruled out striking as a tactic and, some workers say, let much of the activism on the warehouse floor lapse.
On a conference call for outside volunteers held this week, ALU representatives said the goal of a strike at JFK8 would be partly to entice other employees to learn more about the organization. Workers didn’t plan to disrupt trucks entering or exiting the facility, they said.