NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — Workers at New York City’s largest Amazon warehouse on Staten Island joined an ongoing Teamsters union strike on Saturday, just days before Christmas, to advocate for better wages.
A total of 5,500 Staten Island workers from the borough’s JFK8 warehouse became part of the strike at midnight, joining others from Maspeth, Queens who walked off the job Friday. Strikes are also taking place in Atlanta, San Francisco, three delivery hubs in southern California and in Skokie, Illinois, according to the union’s announcement.
Those striking at JFK8 in Bloomfield have been part of the Teamsters union since June, one worker Tom told 1010 WINS. He claims that Amazon illegally refuses to recognize the union, and that the workers have no contract.
“We want a contract. We want better pay,” he said.
Pay is at the forefront of the strike, though benefits and working conditions are also on the table. Adrian, another striker, said that he earns $24 an hour at Amazon, while UPS workers earn $49 for what he called essentially the same job.
“That’s a huge difference, isn’t it? I mean, no matter what we put in here, I believe we should be paid more,” he said.
High-profile individuals like Attorney General Letitia James were at the strike on Saturday, lending support to the workers.
“Amazon workers deserve higher wages and safe working conditions,” she wrote on social media. “I was proud to stand with the @amazonlabor workers on strike on Staten Island today to fight for their rights.”
The Teamsters union claims to represent 10,000 Amazon workers at 10 facilities, and has focused predominantly on organizing delivery drivers. However, Amazon has used this focus to rebuff demands to negotiate with the union, claiming that it doesn’t consider drivers to be its employees.
A company spokesperson told The Associated Press on Thursday that the strikers are “almost entirely outsiders, not Amazon employees or partners, and the suggestion otherwise is just another lie from the Teamsters.”
In terms of holiday gift delays, an Amazon spokesperson said: “We believe in the strength of our network and plan for contingencies to minimize potential operational impact or costs.”
New York State Sen. Michael Gianaris, whose constituents reside in Queens where the Maspeth strike is underway, said that he would always stands with “the everyday people that make New York what it is.”
"Amazon is well known to be abusive of its workforce. It is one of the biggest companies on Earth and it has gotten that way on the backs of the working men and women whose labor they take advantage of,” he told 1010 WINS. “To add insult to injury, they don’t even treat them respectfully, they don’t bargain with them collectively as is required by law, and they engage in union busting.”
Despite the frigid temperatures on Saturday, one worker said coming out in support of the strike was absolutely necessary.
“We’d just much rather be able to support each other so we could fight for our cause because they really want to overwork us there and it’s not exactly fair wages and labor that they're providing us,” he told 1010 WINS.