Drivers Inspire Growing Movement of Amazon
Workers Organizing with Teamsters
PALMDALE, Calif., Aug. 22,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Amazon delivery drivers
represented by Teamsters Local 396 in Palmdale, Calif., won a groundbreaking
decision that sets the stage for Amazon delivery drivers across the
country to organize with the Teamsters. After more than a year-long
investigation, National Labor Relations Board Region 31 (NLRB)
found that Amazon is a joint employer of its Delivery Service
Partner (DSP) drivers, and therefore has a legal duty to recognize
and bargain with the Teamsters Union.
The NLRB Region in Los Angeles
also found that Amazon engaged in a long list of egregious unfair
labor practices at its Palmdale
facility, including unlawfully refusing to recognize the workers'
decision to unionize with the Teamsters; failing and refusing to
bargain with the Teamsters over conditions of employment and the
effects of its decision to terminate its DSP's contract;
threatening employees with job loss; holding unlawful captive
audience meetings; intimidating employees with security guards; and
other illegal retaliation against the group of newly unionized
workers.
The NLRB will soon issue a complaint against Amazon and
prosecute the corporate giant at a trial before an NLRB judge for
its serious and callous violations of workers' rights. The
Teamsters are confident the NLRB's regional determination for the
Palmdale workers will extend to
Amazon DSP drivers who unionize nationwide. There are nearly
280,000 DSP drivers across the country.
"Amazon drivers have taken their future into their own hands and
won a monumental determination that makes clear Amazon has a legal
obligation to bargain with its drivers over their working
conditions," said Teamsters General President Sean M. O'Brien. "This strike has paved the way
for every other Amazon worker in the country to demand what they
deserve and to get Amazon to the bargaining table."
"Amazon can no longer dodge responsibility for our low wages and
dangerous working conditions, and it cannot continue to get away
with committing unfair labor practices. We are Amazon workers and
we are holding Amazon accountable," said Jessie Moreno, an Amazon driver and Local 396
member in Palmdale. "We have been
on strike to stop Amazon's lawbreaking and we are winning at the
NLRB, while we are uniting Amazon workers across the country like
never before."
In April 2023, the 84 Amazon
workers from Palmdale became the
first group of Amazon delivery drivers in the country to organize a
union. As members of Local 396, they negotiated and ratified a
contract with Amazon's DSP, Battle-Tested Strategies. Despite
wielding absolute control over the drivers' terms and conditions of
employment, Amazon maintained that it did not employ the workers
and refused to recognize or negotiate with the Teamsters. Instead,
Amazon engaged in dozens of unfair labor practices in violation of
federal labor law in an effort to quash workers' organizing
efforts.
Amazon Teamsters from Palmdale
have been on an unfair labor strike since June 24, 2023, extending their picket line to
over 50 Amazon warehouses across 10 states.
The Palmdale Teamsters have inspired other Amazon workers to
take action, including drivers at Amazon's delivery station in
Skokie, Ill., who launched their
own unfair labor practice strike in June
2024. Skokie drivers filed
unfair labor practice charges against Amazon over myriad federal
labor law violations, including Amazon's failure to recognize and
bargain with the Teamsters on low pay and dangerous working
conditions.
"The drivers from Palmdale are
showing that we can hold Amazon accountable and the way to do it is
to organize a union and use our power as workers," said
Michael Daddio, an Amazon driver and
Teamsters Local 705 member from Skokie. "We are united with other Teamsters in
our industry to win the good jobs we deserve."
Workers at other Amazon warehouses have gone on strike in recent
weeks, including at the KSBD Amazon air hub facility in
San Bernardino, Calif., and the
KCVG Amazon air hub at the Cincinnati/Northern
Kentucky International Airport. In June, more than 5,500
members of the Amazon Labor Union in New
York voted by an overwhelming 98.3 percent to affiliate with
the Teamsters.
Amazon began hiring DSP drivers in 2018 with the launch of its
DSP program, quickly becoming one of the country's largest delivery
companies. Amazon has avoided responsibility for its drivers
through its DSP subcontractor business model, claiming DSP drivers
are not official employees of Amazon. The NLRB's joint employer
determination shatters that myth and makes clear that through its
DSP business model, Amazon exercises widespread control over
drivers' labor and working conditions, making Amazon the drivers'
employer.
"Drivers have always known that Amazon's Delivery Service
Partner program is a sham and that DSP companies are not the ones
that control drivers. Now the government agrees," said Brandi Diaz, an Amazon driver and Local 396
member. "We wear Amazon uniforms, we drive Amazon vans, and Amazon
controls every minute of our day. Amazon can no longer have all the
benefits of their own fleet of drivers without the responsibilities
that come with it. The time has come for Amazon drivers across the
country to organize with the Teamsters and demand what we
deserve."
Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters
represents 1.3 million hardworking people in the U.S., Canada, and Puerto
Rico. Visit Teamster.org for more information. Follow
us on Twitter @Teamsters and "like" us on Facebook at
Facebook.com/teamsters.
Media Contact:
Kara Deniz, (202)
497-6610
kdeniz@teamster.org
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SOURCE International Brotherhood of Teamsters