The online retail giant Amazon.com said its rush to deliver millions of holiday packages was largely unaffected Thursday by a nationwide strike, as thousands of drivers represented by the Teamsters union walked off the job.
The strike, which began at dusk on Thursday on the West Coast, affected distribution and fulfillment hubs in the City of Industry, Palmdale and Victorville. Workers also walked off their jobs in San Francisco, Atlanta, New York City and Skokie, Illinois.
In the City of Industry, roughly 150 drivers and organizers picketed the distribution hub, where about 100 delivery vans remained in their stalls at the complex’s sprawling parking lot.
Big-rig trucks were seen backed up as they waited to enter the facility at 15930 Valley Blvd. while picketers temporarily blocked their path. Many of them chanted, “Jeff Bezos you can’t hide, we can see your greedy side!”
Bezos, the world’s second-wealthiest person with a net worth of $250 billion, founded Amazon in 1994.
Amazon spokeswoman Eileen Hards said the company had “minimal delays” at the facility and expected all packages to still be delivered,
Drivers on strike in Southern California and nationwide work for third-party contractors and are demanding higher wages, better benefits and safer working conditions.
Vanessa Valdez, a 44-year-old Ontario resident and delivery driver for Andiamo Logistics, said she’s struggles to maintain a work-life balance while delivering 300 packages daily for Amazon. A driver for six years, she said her performance is monitored by dispatchers at the distribution hub. If she doesn’t meet delivery targets, they ask whether she needs help. Falling behind too often could mean losing her job, she said.
“We don’t have the luxury of time with this job,” said Valdez, a single parent with three children who is paid $22.75 hourly. “I just want to go home and lay in bed at the end of my shift.”
She said drivers get no sick days and only four paid holidays.
Amazon’s Hards said delivery service partners “manage personnel issues. These are not our employees.”
US labor board prosecutors concluded in late August that Amazon is legally the boss of contracted drivers, rejecting the company’s claim that such workers aren’t its employees. The general counsel office of the US National Labor Relations Board said that drivers in Palmdale were employees of Amazon itself, as well as of the “delivery service partner” company that hired them.
The strike on Thursday came after employees represented by the Teamsters authorized a strike vote earlier in the week. The union says Amazon ignored a Dec. 15 deadline to recognize the new union and negotiate a contract.
“There have been no elections, no bargaining orders, no ULP (unfair labor practice) decisions directing bargaining,” Hards said Thursday. “This entire narrative is a PR play and the Teamsters’ conduct this past year, and this week, is illegal. We haven’t seen any impact on our operations.”
Hards said that the picketers mostly represent outsiders — not Amazon employees or partners. “The truth is that they were unable to get enough support from our employees and partners and have brought in outsiders to come and harass and intimidate our team, which is inappropriate and dangerous,” she said.
‘Busters’ hold meetings
Several drivers on the picket line Thursday voiced concerns about Amazon’s pushback on the Teamsters’ efforts.
Andrew Hernandez, 28, an independent driver for three years with EZ Logistics, said he and other drivers have been forced to sit in small groups in offices to hear consultants — or “busters” as he called them — talk about why the union only wants their dues. The company also has posted anti-union fliers in restrooms and break rooms.
Hards said on Wednesday that employees always have a choice to join the union or not.
Victor Mineros with Local 396 Teamsters union in Covina said roughly 2,500 drivers voted to authorize the Southern California strike.
“We asked Amazon to come to the table to negotiate, and gave them a date to do so. But they ignored the demands of the workers,” he said.
The Teamsters have not stated how long the strike might last.
