Teamsters union workers at seven Amazon facilities have launched a strike.
A holiday strike could impact your holiday shopping. Nearly 10,000 Amazon workers have walked off the job across seven facilities.
The Teamsters launched what they're calling the largest strike against the company in history. This comes as negotiations for a contract continue to stall. The workers are asking for better work conditions and improved safety.
"Safety, better conditions, better work environment. That is one thing we have been asking for," Luc Rene, an Amazon delivery driver, told NBC10 Boston. "We don't feel like that is something we have to beg for."
Amazon responded to the union on Thursday morning, saying, "the Teamsters have actively threatened, intimidated, and attempted to coerce Amazon employees and third-party drivers to join them, which is illegal..."
This could all prove very disruptive as Christmas is less than a week away. But keep in mind, this is just 1% of their entire 1.5 million person workforce. Amazon is reassuring customers that the holiday will not be ruined, saying they have hundreds of fulfillment centers all across the country.
The strikes happening Thursday are taking place at one Amazon warehouse in San Francisco, California, and six delivery stations in southern California, New York City; Atlanta, Georgia, and Skokie, Illinois, according to the union’s announcement. Amazon workers at the other facilities are “prepared to join,” the union said.
Teamsters in Massachusetts and Rhode Island have already joined the picket line. Union workers at the Johnston, Rhode Island, location and the Fall River, Massachusetts location will join the nationwide effort, according to the union.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
