On December 19, Amazon drivers, including Vanessa Valdez, initiated a strike to protest the company's refusal to recognize their union with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. This movement mirrored similar actions across the country, with thousands of workers unionizing in multiple states. Despite the Teamsters issuing a bargaining deadline, Amazon did not respond, leading to strikes at nine warehouses. Striking workers united in their chants against union busting, emphasizing their determination to stand collectively for their rights and better working conditions.
"It was beautiful chaos," Valdez told me. Hundreds of workers marched down the street to the driveway where their colleagues were loading their vans for the day, chanting, "Union busting is disgusting!" and "When Teamsters fight, Teamsters win!".
Union representatives say that 10,000 Amazon workers have unionized with the Teamsters at facilities in New York, Illinois, California, and Georgia.
Despite the growing number of employees joining the union, the company has refused to bargain with workers at any of these facilities, including JFK8 in Staten Island.
When that deadline passed without a response from the company, workers ended up striking at nine warehouses.
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