Staff at two of Amazon's warehouses in New York Metropolis are set to go on strike after the corporate failed to come back to the bargaining desk by a December 15 deadline. Unionized staff on the JFK8 facility on Staten Island and DBK4 depot in Queens voted "overwhelmingly" to authorize strikes in protest towards "Amazon’s unlawful refusal to acknowledge their union and negotiate a contract addressing the corporate’s low wages and harmful working circumstances," in response to the Worldwide Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT). Engadget has contacted the Teamsters and Amazon Labor Union (ALU) for extra particulars in regards to the strikes.
The employees at JFK8 have been the primary within the US to unionize at an Amazon warehouse. They organized below the ALU, which this June partnered with the Teamsters. The union now often called ALU-IBT Native 1 represents round 5,500 warehouse staff at JFK8.
“Our members are able to do no matter it takes to get a contract,” Connor Spence, president of ALU-IBT Native 1, mentioned in an announcement. “Whereas Amazon continues to disrespect us by refusing to hearken to our considerations, our motion is simply rising stronger.”
As for DBK4 — which the Teamsters say is Amazon's largest supply station in NYC — staff there voted virtually unanimously for strike authorization. In the meantime, staff on the DIL7 supply depot in Skokie, Illinois, additionally voted "overwhelmingly" to approve a strike. The Teamsters signify a whole lot of staff at that station as properly. “Amazon is likely one of the largest corporations on Earth, however we’re struggling to pay our payments,” Riley Holzworth, a DIL7 employee, mentioned in an announcement.
Amazon has lodged authorized challenges towards the union election win at JFK8, nevertheless it has been unsuccessful in its efforts to overturn outcomes to date. The corporate has appealed a ruling by the Nationwide Labor Relations Board that licensed the union. As ABC News experiences, staff declare that Amazon is utilizing the challenges as a tactic to illegally delay union contract talks.
"For greater than a 12 months now, the Teamsters have continued to deliberately mislead the general public — claiming that they signify 'hundreds of Amazon workers and drivers'. They don't, and that is one other try to push a false narrative," Amazon spokesperson Eileen Hards advised ABC Information. "The reality is that the Teamsters have actively threatened, intimidated, and tried to coerce Amazon workers and third-party drivers to hitch them, which is illegitimate and is the topic of a number of pending unfair labor apply expenses."
Information of the upcoming strike comes simply after a Senate committee launched a report relating to an investigation into security at Amazon services. The Senate Committee on Well being, Training, Labor and Pensions claimed the corporate ignored inner analysis indicating that there was a excessive stage of damage charges at its warehouses.
This text initially appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/amazon-workers-at-two-nyc-warehouses-are-set-to-go-on-strike-175236558.html?src=rss
