A strike was called at Amazon facilities in four US states on Thursday, a week before Christmas, by employees represented by the Teamsters union.
• Also read: Strike at Amazon in the United States just before Christmas
Nearly 10,000 Amazon employees are mobilized, according to a publication by the union on the social network X.
Picket lines are set up at facilities in New York City, Atlanta, Georgia, Southern California, San Francisco and Skokie, Illinois.
“If your package arrives late during the holidays, you can blame Amazon’s insatiable greed,” the Teamsters union wrote in its publication.
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The distribution giant, however, assured, in an email, that this strike has no impact on operations in Canada.
Amazon also says operations will not be affected in the United States, according to CNN.
The Teamsters union accuses the American giant of having ignored the deadline it gave it to go to the negotiating table.
“These greedy leaders have had every opportunity to show decency and respect to the people who allow them to make obscene profits. Instead, they pushed workers to the limit and now they are paying the price. This strike is their fault,” denounced the general president of the Teamsters, Sean M. O’Brien in the publication on the X platform.
AFP
Amazon does not recognize the union
If the union accuses Amazon of refusing to negotiate, the distribution giant accuses the Teamsters of “intentionally misleading the public by claiming to represent “thousands of Amazon employees and drivers””.
“The truth is that the Teamsters have actively threatened, intimidated and attempted to force Amazon employees and subcontracted drivers to join them, which is illegal and the subject of several accusations leveled against the union for unfair labor practices,” said Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel.
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The union says it represents drivers for an Amazon subcontractor and argues that under a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) rule, Amazon and the delivery service can consider having common employees , according to CNN.
“What you see here is almost entirely external people, not Amazon employees or partners, and to suggest otherwise is just another lie from the Teamsters,” Nantel charged. .
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Teamsters locals are also setting up picket lines in front of hundreds of distribution centers across the country, according to the union’s X release.
The approximately 10,000 Amazon employees that the union says it represents account for less than 1% of the distribution giant’s American workforce, according to CNN.
