Due to union officials stating that Amazon was unable to sit at the negotiating table, thousands of Amazon employees went on strike on Thursday morning Eastern Time.
On Thursday of this week, the International Brotherhood of Truck Drivers announced that thousands of workers at factories in New York City, Skopje, Atlanta, San Francisco, and Southern California will join the strike to demand that Amazon sign contracts, raise worker wages, and improve working conditions. The union represents approximately 10000 workers from Amazon's 10 factories in the United States, with workers from 7 factories going on strike starting this Thursday.
The leadership of the truck drivers' union called this strike "the largest strike against Amazon in American history".
It is worth noting that this strike is not limited to the United States. Earlier, Amazon employees from nearly 20 countries around the world had joined this strike action, known as "Make Amazon Pay" against Japan, which lasted from "Black Friday" to "Cyber Monday". Protests are expected in major cities such as the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, Japan, India, and Brazil.
At present, it is the peak period of the US holiday shopping season, which is the busiest season for Amazon in a year. This strike may disrupt Amazon's operations.
If your package is delayed during the holiday season, you can blame Amazon for being insatiable. We gave Amazon a clear deadline to sit down and negotiate, and do the right thing for our members. But they ignored it, "said Shawn M. O'Brien, president of the truck drivers' union, in a statement." These greedy executives have every opportunity to show integrity and respect for those who have brought them huge profits. On the contrary, they have pushed workers to their limits, and now they are paying the price. This strike is their fault
After the statement was released, Amazon stated that the latest move by the truck driver union is "another attempt to spread false information" and claimed that the union, representing Amazon workers and drivers, "continues to intentionally mislead the public". Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel said, "The fact is that the truck driver union actively threatens, intimidates, and attempts to force Amazon employees and third-party drivers to join them, which is illegal and the subject of multiple pending allegations of unfair labor practices against the union
As the world's second largest private employer after Wal Mart, Amazon has long been the target of trade unions' attacks. In recent years, Amazon workers in Spain, Germany, and other regions have gone on strike due to wage and working conditions issues. Some workers have expressed that Amazon's emphasis on improving shipping speed and efficiency may lead to worker injuries, while Amazon has stated that it pays industry-leading wages and has regularly introduced automated processes to reduce the pressure of repetitive work for workers.
At present, the union has set a deadline for Amazon to start negotiations this Sunday, and workers recently voted to approve a possible strike.
Observers say that Amazon is unlikely to sit at the negotiating table and bargain with unions, as Amazon may believe this will open the door for unions to take more action.
Experts believe that Amazon's attitude towards unions has always been tough. Since the Staten Island workers successfully voted to establish the first Amazon warehouse union in the United States two years ago, the company has never recognized the legitimacy of this organization. Amazon has clearly developed a strategy that attempts to ignore workers' collective organization and bargaining rights.
It is reported that in addition to the aforementioned factory strikes, local labor unions have also organized collective protests and demonstrations at hundreds of Amazon logistics centers across the country. The truck drivers' union stated in a statement on Wednesday that it has set up major checkpoints in hundreds of Amazon fulfillment centers across the country.
However, earlier, Amazon issued a statement to NBC News stating that other warehouses and distribution centers would help prevent large-scale disruptions. The company is a large network that will not disrupt anyone's Christmas. However, based on the feedback from the front, there have indeed been cases of warehouse goods being blocked.
The conflict between the union and this online retail giant is just the latest move by the truck driver union to put pressure on the company and its tough anti union policies during the critical holiday shopping season.
But Amazon has shown no signs of being willing to reach an agreement with the truck driver union, and even does not recognize the union as representing any of its employees, despite the union announcing that many employees at Amazon's factories have signed cards demanding to join the union.
(Pang Yu, a journalist from Time Finance, integrated with self owned securities firms in China, Caixin News Agency, etc.)