STRIKE: Amazon workers launch historic strike just before Christmas

(The Center Square) – The Teamsters Union announced an Amazon workers strike beginning at 6 a.m. Thursday as Amazon is in overdrive in shipping and delivery for Christmas.

The Teamsters say they have 10,000 workers in their ranks, though Amazon boasts about 1.5 million employees in the U.S. They say Amazon ignored a Sunday deadline to respond to their demand for “higher wages, better benefits, and safer conditions at work.”

“If your package is delayed during the holidays, you can blame Amazon’s insatiable greed,” Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien said. “We gave Amazon a clear deadline to come to the table and do right by our members. They ignored it.”

Amazon has reportedly said they do not expect delays.

“For more than a year now, the Teamsters have continued to intentionally mislead the public – claiming that they represent ‘thousands of Amazon employees and drivers,’” Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel said in a statement to media outlets. “They don’t, and this is another attempt to push a false narrative.”

The Teamsters said workers in Atlanta, New York City, San Francisco, Southern California and Slokie, Illinois, will join the strike and that “other facilities are prepared to join them.”

The union said local Teamsters unions are also setting picket lines at hundreds of shipping sites around the country.

“These greedy executives had every chance to show decency and respect for the people who make their obscene profits possible. Instead, they’ve pushed workers to the limit and now they’re paying the price,” O’Brien said. “This strike is on them.”