Teamsters President Sean O'Brien is calling on Amazon to provide better pay for its union members and “negotiate” just days before the holiday rush.
Amazon workers They will join thousands of disgruntled workers at a warehouse in New York's Staten Island as a strike against the retail giant enters its second day on Friday.
said the Teamsters release “The movement continues to grow” as workers seek “fair treatment” from the online retailer.
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters said in a statement released on social media: “The Amazon Teams movement is getting bigger and stronger every day and it will not stop.”
Team Builders Union Begins Historic Nationwide Strike Against Amazon: 'Paying the Price'
The JFK8 warehouse in Staten Island joined thousands of Amazon workers to protest the company's refusal to “deal with workers who choose to unionize with the Teamsters.”
The strike came after Teamsters said Amazon had ignored a Dec. 15 union deadline to negotiate new contracts for higher wages, better benefits and safer working conditions.
Amazon workers were organized during the 2024 holiday season by the Teamsters strike in Skokie, Ill. (Fox News / Fox News)
Sean M. Teamsters General President O'Brien encouraged the last warehouse to join the strike, saying it would take “courage” to stand up. Big companies.
“Amazon managers are cowards who hide behind lies, threats and intimidation to avoid their responsibility to workers and people,” he said. It takes real courage to stand up to a corporate bully, and Amazon's teams do just that.
“Santa Claus will be disgusted by Amazon's behavior on Thursday's Cavuto: Coast to Coast,” said Teamsters CEO Sean O'Brien. (FOX Business/Getty Images/Image/FOXBusiness)
The Staten Island workers joined thousands of other workers from seven sites in Skokie, Illinois. New York City; Atlanta; San Francisco; and Southern California
Although the Teamsters say the union represents about 10,000 workers at 10 Amazon locations in the United States, the company does not recognize the workers' union affiliation.
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Amazon says the Teamsters are “deliberately (misleading) the public” because they don't represent Amazon employees and drivers, company spokeswoman Kelly Nantel told Fox Business in an earlier statement.
Amazon workers plan to strike between Black Friday and Cyber Monday
“For over a year, the Teamsters have continued to deliberately mislead the public by claiming they represent 'thousands of Amazon employees and drivers'. They do not, and this is another attempt to push a false narrative.” “The truth is that the Teamsters have actively threatened, intimidated and attempted coercion. Amazon employees and third-party drivers to join them, which is illegal and is the subject of several pending unfair labor charges against the union.”
Amazon Strike Teams, December 19, 2024. (FOX 5 New York / Fox News)
Nantel also said the company has “no expectations Impact on our operations“
Teamsters spokeswoman Cara Deniz responded to Amazon's statement, saying the company is “setting the American public on fire with its false narratives.”
“The truth is that more than 20 bargaining units, representing nearly 9,000 employees, have successfully organized because the company has been exploiting and abusing workers for years, and these workers are fed up and are fighting.”
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“No matter how massive Amazon's public relations apparatus is, they cannot fool the American public into believing that drivers who deliver Amazon packages in Amazon-branded vans do not actually work for Amazon,” Denise added. “No one is going to believe this nonsense. Amazon needs to abandon its legal obligation to these workers and come to the negotiating table now.”
Pilar Arias of FOX Business and Elizabeth Pritchett of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.