Amazon’s largest strike threatens on-time holiday delivery in Metro Detroit

A major strike against Amazon, considered the largest in American history, started this morning at 6 EST, a few days before the holiday season. Since many shoppers rely on last-minute deliveries, the timing of the strike is strategic.

The Teamsters Union has announced that the strike will begin at Amazon facilities in New York, Illinois, California and Georgia, with local unions planning picket lines at hundreds of fulfillment centers across the country, including possibly in Metro Detroit. As a result, there is growing concern about potential delays in package deliveries in the region.

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Strike’s influence on Metro Detroit’s holiday shopping

In Detroit, a few workers at the Amazon fulfillment facility on Woodward joined the demonstration and walked off the job at 6 this morning. The strike will take place in seven different locations, including New York City, Atlanta, San Francisco and just outside of Los Angeles and Chicago with Christmas just a week away.

The strike is being branded as the biggest strike, as 10,000 employees are participating in it nationwide. The Teamsters Union says local fulfillment centers across the country are likely to join the strike in support.

The strike comes after Amazon Union workers demanded a bargaining table meeting by December 15. That’s why they’re now going on strike against the $2 trillion company right around the busiest time of the year.

Teamster member Ash Brooks: “It’s important because as workers we need our voices to be heard. This has been a long time coming and we need to show Jeff Bezos and the entire Amazon company and the rest of world that our voices matter,” as reported by WXYZ Detroit.

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Amazon ensures timely delivery to customers

Despite the strikes, Amazon assured its customers that their packages were on their way and would be delivered on time. The company said Teamsters represent only one percent of Amazon workers, so there should be no delays or disruptions to deliveries. In a statement, the company said: “The Teamsters have actively threatened, intimidated and attempted to coerce Amazon employees and third-party drivers into joining them, which is illegal…”

The Detroit Amazon plant is not involved in the Teamsters strike, but is instead part of the American Postal Workers Union (APWU), which began representing the plant earlier this year. The APWU currently represents 450 workers at the Detroit location.

Common Council #43 President Kevin Moore said, “They should call Amazon and say why don’t you treat your workers fairly. We order packages every day you come to my house. Pay the workers a fair wage. I know how much money You serve.”

He continued, “Right now, this is a non-union driver coming in here for Amazon, and we’re here to slow this traffic down. Any union that comes in here, if you see a UPS coming through here, he’s not crossing this border. He won’t cross the line,” as reported by WXYZ Detroit.

Moore shared that 40 percent of nationwide packages are shipped via UPS, but the company assures that package deliveries will not be disrupted during the holiday season. But it was beyond Moore that the delay was not possible, as Union labor would be on strike today and tomorrow and even beyond that if things did not move forward.