By Greg Bensinger
(Reuters) – Pressure is building on Amazon.com to come to the bargaining table with the Teamsters Union as thousands of workers threaten to strike during the retailer’s busy holiday selling season.
Workers in New York City, southern California and Skokie, Illinois, voted in recent days to authorize a strike should Amazon fail to bargain with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. On Wednesday, the union said workers at an Atlanta Amazon facility became the eighth to vote in favor of striking, and the union has threatened to call a strike at any time.
The Teamsters, which claim to represent 10,000 U.S. Amazon workers at 10 facilities, have said Amazon has ignored their requests to meet to reach a contract, despite setting a Dec. 15 deadline.
With over 700,000 workers at around 1,000 warehouses scattered around the U.S., a strike is unlikely to cripple Amazon’s operations, but such a walkout in the final few days before Christmas could create supply chain hiccups and send a signal that the Teamsters intend to inflict financial harm.
Still, say experts, Amazon would likely be unwilling to meet or negotiate with the Teamsters as it could open the door to further organizing efforts.
“Amazon clearly has developed a strategy of ignoring their workers’ rights to collectively organize and negotiate,” said Benjamin Sachs, a Harvard Law School professor of labor and industry. He noted that more than two years have elapsed since workers in Staten Island successfully voted to become the first U.S. warehouse to unionize and the company has yet to acknowledge them.
An Amazon spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Seattle-based company has previously said the Teamsters “attempted to coerce” workers illegally to join the union and that the union does not represent as many Amazon employees as it claims.
Amazon has successfully resisted several unionization drives over the years, including a failed 2021 vote at a warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama, that is still being contested. An administrative judge last month ordered a third union election in Bessemer after ruling Amazon had acted unlawfully to thwart the vote there.
Workers have said Amazon’s emphasis on ever greater speed and efficiency can lead to injuries, while the company has said it pays industry-leading wages and regularly introduces automation designed to cut down on repetitive stress. Having to face union demands could make it harder for Amazon to hire and fire warehouse workers and raise costs to employ them.
