Picket lines are up at several Amazon warehouses in Southern California and across the country.
The strike began at 3 a.m. In Southern California, the pickets are happening at the city of Industry, Palmdale, Victorville, and at an airport hub at the San Bernardino International Airport.
Workers at the Industry told KNX News’ Craig Fiegener they want better pay and benefits.
“We want $30 an hour. We want some of the benefits that UPS drivers have,” one worker said. “There's no reason that Amazon cannot pay a higher wage for us.”
The strike was authorized due to Amazon’s “continued refusal to recognize their union and negotiate contracts,” according to a press release by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. The Teamsters added that Amazon ignored the Dec. 15 deadline to go to the bargaining table.
"The corporate elitists who run Amazon are leaving workers with no choice," Teamsters General President Sean M. O'Brien said . "Greedy executives are pushing thousands of hardworking Americans to the brink. Amazon rakes in more money than anybody, they subject workers to injury and abuse at every turn, and they illegally claim not to be the rightful employer of nearly half their workforce. This rigged system cannot continue.
Amazon must be held accountable to workers and consumers alike. If workers are forced onto the picket line, Amazon will be striking itself."
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Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel said in a statement that the teamsters don’t actually represent ‘thousands’ of Amazon employees and drivers.
“The truth is that the Teamsters have actively threatened, intimidated, and attempted to coerce Amazon employees and third-party drivers to join them, which is illegal and is the subject of multiple pending unfair labor practice charges against the union," the statement read.
An Amazon worker in Industry told KNX News’ Craig Fiegener that’s not true.
“We're branded Amazon. We're wearing Amazon clothes. They monitor our routes.They give us our routes. We're the faces,” he said. “We don't go and show up and say, ‘Hey, we're a [delivery service partners] from Amazon. When we knock on the door, we say, ‘Hey, we're Amazon.’”
It’s unclear how long the strike will last.
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