The Fast Pace Of Union Organizing At Amazon

Labor Notes is reporting that

Six hundred of our Amazon co-workers at five warehouses around New York signed a petition demanding starting wages of $25 an hour, time-and-a-half pay for Prime Day (July 16-17), seasonal workers converted to permanent status within 30 days of employment, and Juneteenth as a paid holiday.

The June 19 holiday celebrates the end of slavery in the U.S. and became a federal holiday in 2021—the first new federal holiday since Martin Luther King Jr. Day was recognized in 1983.

We organized petitions across five warehouses: sort center LDJ5 on Staten Island, where packages are routed to local facilities; the massive fulfillment centers JFK8 on Staten Island and SWF1 in the Hudson Valley, where customer orders are packed; and delivery stations DBK4 and DNJ3 in Queens and the Bronx, where packages are put into delivery vehicles and dispatched to mailboxes or doorsteps.

At the smaller delivery stations with only a couple hundred employees, nearly half the workers signed. And at four of the five warehouses, groups of workers have delivered the petition to Amazon management. (See a video montage of the petition deliveries.)

Read the entire article here.

Photo from Labor Notes

Labor Notes is also reporting on the strike at the Amazon facility in Skokie, Illinois being led by members of Teamsters Local 705. The opening paragraphs of that report say:

Amazon drivers at the DIL7 delivery station in Skokie, Illinois, struck June 26 over the company’s violations of federal labor laws.

A hundred drivers have organized with Teamsters Local 705 and are demanding that Amazon recognize and bargain with their union, after presenting cards signed by a majority of the workforce.

They’re nominally employed by a contractor, Four Star Express Delivery. But “every Amazon driver knows who our true employer is,” said driver Luke Cianciotto in a union statement. “We wear their uniforms and drive their trucks.”

Four Star Express is one of 2,500 “delivery service partners” that carry out package deliveries while Amazon retains full control. Amazon terminated the DSP’s contract on June 25, after giving workers two weeks’ notice.

The Teamsters allege this termination was illegal retaliation against the workers, who had already reached a majority on union cards. The workers marched on management June 20 to demand recognition.

Last year Amazon terminated the contract of another DSP, Battle-Tested Strategies in Palmdale, California, after 84 drivers organized with the Teamsters. BTS voluntarily recognized the union and agreed to a contract that would hike wages to $30 an hour, compared to the $19.75 drivers were earning before.

Since then, Amazon Teamsters have extended picket lines to 30 Amazon warehouses around the country and filed multiple unfair labor practice charges, which are still pending.

“Amazon wants to have it both ways: total operational control but no employment responsibility,” employment scholar David Weil told Labor Notes last year. “Can they benefit from a contractor that operates as an extension of Amazon but not be held responsible?”

Read the article here.

Photo from Teamsters Local 705

A report on the strike from Local 705 carries the following quotes from striking workers:

“Every Amazon driver knows who our true employer is,” said Luke Cianciotto, one of the striking Amazon drivers. “We wear their uniforms and drive their trucks. They decide whether we can be hired or fired. We make them their profits and we organized a union with the Teamsters for our fair share.”

and

“I work for one of the richest men in the world and I’ve had to skip meals to make sure my child eats and my bills are paid,” said Ebony Echevarria, a striking Amazon driver. “That’s just not right. My co-workers and I are fighting for respect, decent pay, and safe working conditions for us and for all Amazon workers.”

Photo from Labor Notes

Labor Notes also covered the recent merger between the Amazon Labor Union and the Teamsters. That article said:

Amazon Labor Union members voted June 17 to affiliate with the Teamsters.

Workers cast 878 ballots at JFK8 Amazon fulfillment center on Staten Island, N.Y. The tally broke down to 829 votes in favor of the affiliation and 14 against it; 10 ballots were spoiled.

Total turnout was 11 percent out of 8,000 workers. However, workers estimate the workforce has dipped to between 5,000 and 6,000 workers during the off-peak season.

A Teamsters statement said the union will now “represent the roughly 5,500 Amazon warehouse workers.” Turnout works out to 16 percent based on that number.

“On behalf of the Amazon Labor Union, I’m proud of our members choosing a path to victory. We're now stronger than ever before," said ALU President Chris Smalls in a statement.

"Having the support of 1.3 million Teamsters to take on Amazon gives us tremendous worker power and the opportunities to demand better conditions for our members and, most importantly, to secure a contract at JFK8.”

The affiliation agreement charters a new local known as Amazon Labor Union No. 1, International Brotherhood of Teamsters (ALU-IBT Local 1), for the five boroughs of New York City. That may signal that Amazon workers will not be integrated into existing locals with other Teamster crafts.

“Together, with hard work, courage, and conviction, the Teamsters and ALU will fight fearlessly to ensure Amazon workers secure the good jobs and safe working conditions they deserve in a union contract,” Teamsters President Sean O’Brien said in a statement.

The ALU is the fledgling independent union that sent shock waves through the labor movement two years ago when it won a landmark election to organize 8,000 workers at Amazon fulfillment center JFK8 on Staten Island.

The entire article may be read here.

The Valley Labor Report ran a critical segment on the ALU-Teamster merger four weeks ago. 

The Hill carried this report: