“These greedy executives have every opportunity to show decency and respect for those who make their obscene profits,” Teamsters General President Sean M. O'Brien said in a public statement. “Instead, they pushed workers to the limit and now they are paying the price. This attack is aimed at them.”
This has been a record-breaking year for Amazon. According to the company's third-quarter earnings report, profits from July to September increased by 55 percent 2024 compared to the same period last year. in one press release Announced alongside the earnings report, Amazon President and CEO Andy Jassy said the company is “excited about what we have in store for customers” for the holiday season. Report expected Net sales will be between $181.5 billion and $188.5 billion in Q4.
“We have not seen any impact to our operations” from the strikes, Amazon spokeswoman Kelly Nantel said. “We appreciate all of our team's great efforts in serving our customers and their communities, and are continuing to focus on getting our customers' holiday orders in place. ” Nantel also accused the Teamsters of harassing and intimidating Amazon employees.
At DBK4, located in Queens, New York, hundreds of Amazon workers marched on the sidewalk in front of the parking garage entrance, sometimes verbally confronting delivery drivers crossing the fence. Many delivery vehicles simultaneously honked their horns while waiting in line to exit the garage. Some protesting workers held up signs reading “Amazon follows the law”. The marchers included people in solidarity, carrying signs representing the New York State Nurses Association and City University of New York (CUNY) students.
Meanwhile, New York Police Department officers stood on the street, occasionally shouting and pushing workers off the sidewalk. Shortly after 9 a.m. ET, the NYPD arrested a delivery driver who was trying to exit his delivery vehicle just outside the parking garage and join the strikers. At approximately 9:50 a.m., the NYPD announced over a loudspeaker that any workers standing in the street would be arrested and charged with disorderly conduct. Soon after, the NYPD placed a Teamsters organizer under arrest, although it was unclear whether they were on the streets. Police eventually set up barricades outside the garage and began personally organizing delivery trucks with non-striking Amazon loss prevention workers.