Amazon workers in New York City join nationwide strike amid holiday rush

NEW YORK (PIX11) -- Amazon workers in New York City are rallying with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters labor union and going on strike amid the holiday rush.

The strikes kicked off at 6 a.m. Thursday at DBK4 in New York City, in addition to warehouses in Atlanta, Southern California, San Francisco, and Skokie, Illinois.

The strike is reportedly a result of Amazon's refusal to negotiate contracts with the union after a deadline of Dec. 15. The union aimed to address key issues such as higher wages, improved benefits, and safer working conditions for warehouse workers.

“If your package is delayed during the holidays, you can blame Amazon’s insatiable greed. We gave Amazon a clear deadline to come to the table and do right by our members. They ignored it,” said Teamsters General President Sean O’Brien. “These greedy executives had every chance to show decency and respect for the people who make their obscene profits possible. Instead, they’ve pushed workers to the limit and now they’re paying the price. This strike is on them.”

The union claims nearly 10,000 Amazon workers are joining the strike and that primary picket lines at hundreds of Amazon fulfillment centers nationwide.

“I’ve seen the Teamsters win big battles,” said Dia Ortiz, a worker at DBK4 in New York. “We’re ready to do what it takes to win this one.”

The decision comes just weeks after Amazon workers in 20 countries went on strike from Black Friday to Cyber Monday.

The organizing labor union, UNI Global Union, spearheaded the movement intending to hold Amazon accountable for “labor abuses, environmental degradation and threats to democracy.”

PIX11 News reached out to Amazon for a statement and received the following response from Kelly Nantel, an Amazon spokesperson:

“For more than a year now, the Teamsters have continued to intentionally mislead the public – claiming that they represent ‘thousands of Amazon employees and drivers’. They don’t, and this is another attempt to push a false narrative. The truth is that the Teamsters have actively threatened, intimidated, and attempted to coerce Amazon employees and third-party drivers to join them, which is illegal and is the subject of multiple pending unfair labor practice charges against the union."