Amazon plants across the US have joined the New York plant in a strike organized by the Teamsters union on Christmas Eve, after union officials said the company did not come to the negotiating table over contracts last year. December 15.
The union assured that workers joined the protest in New York City, Skokie (Illinois), Atlanta, San Francisco and in Southern California to obtain contracts that guarantee better wages and working conditions.
The Teamsters claims to represent 10,000 Amazon warehouse and delivery center employees in ten facilities in the US, but only seven will participate in the strike this Thursday, out of the 1.5 million people who work for the company.
The union points out that Amazon occupies second place on the Fortune 500 list of the largest companies in the country, with a value of more than two trillion dollars, but that still “the company does not pay its workers enough to make ends meet. of the month.”
“If your package is delayed during the holidays, you can blame Amazon’s insatiable greed. We gave Amazon a clear deadline to come to the table and do what’s right for our members. They ignored it,” Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien said in a press release.
Read: Amazon workers will go on strike in several US warehouses during the Christmas season
The union considers this strike as “historic” and points out that Amazon does not respect its employees or their right to negotiate better working conditions and salaries, according to some of the workers, who in many cases belong to companies subcontracted by the company.
An Amazon spokesperson assured CNBC that The Teamsters have been waging a year-long campaign to “intentionally mislead the public” and that the protesters are “almost entirely outsiders.”
“The truth is that they could not get enough support from our employees and partners and have brought in outsiders to harass and intimidate our team, which is inappropriate and dangerous,” according to the company, which emphasizes that it is focused on getting the Christmas orders to customers at one of the delivery company’s busiest times.
New York warehouses, at the center of the strike
In New York City, the Police have gone to the city’s warehouses in Staten Island and Queens and have established a police cordon so that company vehicles can leave the facilities.
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The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), a federal agency that protects the rights of private sector workers in the US, has issued dozens of complaints accusing Amazon of illegal tactics to suppress union formation.
The company has resorted to practices such as dismissing supporters of these initiatives, threats and holding mandatory meetings against the unions themselves.
With information from EFE
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