Amazon workers strike at several delivery hubs. Here’s what you should know

Amazon workers affiliated with the Teamsters union started a strike at seven of the company’s delivery hubs less than a week before Christmas.

The Teamsters said the workers, who voted to authorize strikes in recent days, joined the strike Thursday after Amazon ignored a Sunday deadline set by the union for contract negotiations.

The company says it does not expect the strike to affect holiday shipments.

Amazon has a few hundred employees at each delivery station. The Teamsters have mainly focused on organizing delivery drivers who work for contractors to handle package deliveries for the company. But Amazon has rejected demands to come to the negotiating table since then does not consider the drivers to be its employees.

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters also says the union represents some Amazon warehouse workers.

Here’s what else you need to know:

Where do the strikes take place?

The strikes are taking place at three delivery hubs in Southern California and one each in San Francisco, New York City, Atlanta, Georgia and Skokie, Illinois, according to the union’s release.

The union has not said how many workers will participate in the strike or how long it will last. Vinnie Perrone, the president of a local Teamsters union in metro New York, said Thursday that the lockout would continue “as long as it takes.”

The union, which claims to represent 10,000 Amazon workers at 10 facilities, said workers at several locations were prepared to join the fight.

Workers at a company’s air hub in California have authorized a strike. So have workers at an Amazon warehouse in New York who joined the nascent Amazon Labor Union in 2022 and have since affiliated with the Teamsters.

The Teamsters say their local unions are also setting up picket lines at other Amazon warehouses. A company spokesman said Thursday that the strikers were “almost entirely outsiders, not Amazon employees or partners, and the proposal otherwise is just another lie from the Teamsters.”

What do the workers want?

The striking workers are fighting for higher wagesbetter benefits and safer working conditions.

The Teamsters have been trying to bring Amazon to the bargaining table since last year, when the labor organization first said it had organized a group of delivery drivers in california who works for a contractor. Amazon – which denies it employs the workers – refused, leading the union to file unfair labor charges against the company on National Labor Relations Board.

In August, prosecutors at the federal labor agency classified Amazon as a “joint employer” of subcontractors. In September, the company increased hourly pay for drivers amid growing pressure.

Amazon warehouse workers who voted to unionize in Staten Island, New York City, have also tried to get the company to engage in contract negotiations.

National Labor Relations Board certified Amazon Labor Union election, but the company objected to the proxy vote and refused to negotiate. In the process, Amazon also filed a lawsuit challenging the constitution by the labor board, which it accused of having spoiled the vote.

Some organizers involved in union efforts there have long believed that Amazon would not come to the bargaining table unless workers went on strike.

What about holiday deliveries?

Amazon says it doesn’t expect the strike to affect its operations, but a work stoppage — especially one lasting multiple days — could delay shipments in some metro areas.

An Amazon spokesman said Thursday that the company intentionally builds its sites close to where customers are, schedules shipping windows and partners with other major carriers, such as UPS, to deliver products.

“We believe in the strength of our network and are planning contingencies to minimize the potential operational impact or costs,” the spokesperson said.