Amazon Union Workers Threaten Strike Ahead of the Holidays
Amazon.com is facing a potential strike threat just as the holiday rush draws closer to its peak. Taking the wages and working conditions into their own hands, Amazon union workers are preparing to go on strike, after voting overwhelmingly to authorize the resistance. The Amazon workers’ strike is expected to take place at two New York City facilities — JFK8 and DBK4 — after the e-commerce company was accused of “illegally” refusing to recognize their union and negotiate a contract with them.
Amazon workers at 10 facilities across the U.S. have moved to establish a union in partnership with the Teamster Brotherhood in order to have their working conditions renegotiated as a collective. However, Amazon has been accused of failing to uphold its legal obligation to acknowledge the union and establish a new contract with the unionized workforce.
Total Retail's Take: The disgruntled workers realize that there would be no better time to get the attention of Amazon management than by walking off their jobs a mere week before Christmas. Such an action would disrupt operations for the online retail giant as it seeks to fulfill and deliver last-minute gifts to holiday shoppers, who aren't going to take kindly to late shipments.
Amazon has historically been anti-union and frequently accused of union-busting activities. In this particular case, the company has not shared its stance on the issue and how it plans to tackle the threat of a union strike so close to the holiday surge. While its anti-union stance is unlikely to change in the short term because of striking workers at a few of its distribution centers, those employees can certainly make business more challenging for the retail giant over the next week-plus. Perhaps that has some long-term impact on the viability of unionization for Amazon workers in 2025.
