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Teamsters General President Sean O’Brien is calling on Amazon to provide better pay to its union members and to “bargain” just days before a busy holiday season.
Amazon workers at a Staten Island warehouse in New York will join thousands of disgruntled workers as the strike against the retail giant entered its second day on Friday.
The Teamsters said a release “Momentum continues to build” as workers seek “fair treatment” at the online retailer.
“The Amazon Teamsters movement is getting bigger and stronger every day and it will not stop,” the International Brotherhood of Teamsters said in a statement posted on social media.
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Staten Island’s JFK8 warehouse joined thousands of Amazon workers in protesting the corporation’s refusal to “negotiate with its workers who have chosen to unionize with the Teamsters.”
The strike came after the Teamsters said Amazon ignored the union’s Dec. 15 deadline to negotiate new contracts for higher wages, better benefits and safer working conditions.
Amazon workers organized by the Teamsters strike in Skokie, Illinois during the 2024 holiday season. (Fox News/Fox News)
Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien encouraged the last warehouse to join the strike, saying it takes “courage” to stand up. large corporations.
“Amazon executives are cowards who hide behind lies, threats and intimidation to shirk their responsibilities to workers and the public,” he said. “It takes real courage to stand up to a corporate bully, and the Amazon Teamsters are doing just that.”
Teamsters General President Sean O’Brien said “Santa Claus would be disgusted” by Amazon’s behavior at “Cavuto: Coast to Coast” on Thursday. (FOX Business/Getty Images/Photo Illustration/FOXBusiness)
The Staten Island workers joined thousands of other workers at seven locations in Skokie, Illinois; New York; Atlanta; San Francisco; and Southern California.
Although the Teamsters say the union represents about 10,000 workers at 10 Amazon locations in the U.S., the company does not recognize workers’ union affiliation.
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Amazon says the Teamsters are “intentionally (misleading) the public” because they don’t represent Amazon employees and drivers, company spokeswoman Kelly Nantel said in an earlier statement to Fox Business.
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“For over a year now, the Teamsters have continued to intentionally mislead the public, claiming they represent ‘thousands of Amazon employees and drivers.’ They don’t, and this is yet another attempt to push a false narrative,” Nantel said. “The truth is that the Teamsters have actively threatened, intimidated and attempted to coerce Amazon employees and third-party drivers to join, which is illegal and is the subject of multiple pending unfair labor practice complaints against the union.”
Striking Amazon Teamsters on December 19, 2024. (FOX 5 New York / Fox News)
Nantel also said the company “doesn’t expect any impact on our operations.”
Teamsters spokeswoman Kara Deniz responded to Amazon’s statement, saying the company is “making light of the American public with its false narratives.”
“The truth is that more than 20 bargaining units representing nearly 9,000 employees have successfully organized because for many years the company has exploited and abused workers, and these workers are fed up and fighting back,” Deniz said. .
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“No matter how great Amazon’s corporate PR machine is, they can’t fool the American public into believing that drivers who deliver Amazon packages in Amazon-branded vans don’t really work for Amazon.” Deniz added. “No one believes this nonsense. Amazon needs to stop avoiding its legal obligation to these workers and come to the bargaining table now.”
Pilar Arias of FOX Business and Elizabeth Pritchett of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.
