Workers Add to National Union Momentum,
Fight for Fair Treatment Amid Peak Season
SAN
BERNARDINO, Calif., Dec. 11,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Over 1,000 Amazon workers at the
company's KSBD air hub in Southern
California have formed a union with the Teamsters and
demanded union recognition with a "March on the Boss" held this
morning. The KSBD warehouse in San
Bernardino is a crucial hub in Amazon's logistics network
and the largest air facility on the West Coast.
Today's announcement comes on the heels of the Teamsters
notifying Amazon of a December 15
deadline to follow the law and agree to bargaining dates for a
union contract, on behalf of thousands of Amazon delivery drivers
and warehouse workers who have organized with the Teamsters
nationwide.
The San Bernardino workers
launched their union drive to organize with the 1.3 million-member
Teamsters in November. Now, they join thousands of Amazon workers
across California, Illinois, Georgia, and New
York in unionizing with the Teamsters to take on the
e-commerce giant in an unprecedented, coast-to-coast organizing
wave.
"As Amazon prepares to rake in record profits this holiday
season, it's time Amazon workers get our fair share, and that's
exactly why we're joining the Teamsters," said Maggie Perez, an air hub worker at KSBD. "Every
day we're on the job, we're breaking our bodies to get packages out
on time and to keep Amazon customers happy. In return, all we're
asking for is livable wages, fair treatment, and respect. For a
company worth trillions of dollars, that should be the bare
minimum."
Amazon workers at KSBD have been organizing for years to hold
the company to account. In July, workers held an unfair labor
practice strike over retaliation they faced for union organizing.
In September, when wildfires in California caused intense heat and dangerous
fumes at their facility and Amazon refused to safeguard their
health, KSBD workers marched on the boss and successfully shut down
operations with full pay until conditions improved. During the
holiday peak season, KSBD workers and Amazon employees nationwide,
including Amazon delivery drivers, are pushed to their limits to
meet skyrocketing demand.
"Amazon workers across the country are organizing with the
Teamsters because we have had enough. The disrespect we face every
day from management while working long hours and doing
back-breaking work is a disgrace," said Daniel Salinas, an air hub worker at KSBD. "I've
worked at Amazon for three years, and it's past time we made some
changes at this company. That starts with a union and a voice on
the job for workers like me."
The organizing wave unfolding at Amazon is unprecedented as
Amazon workers across seven facilities coast-to-coast have joined
the Teamsters in recent months. Since September, warehouse workers
in San Francisco and delivery
drivers in Queens, Victorville,
City of Industry and two facilities in Atlanta have all formed unions with the
Teamsters and demanded recognition. Meanwhile, workers at the
company's largest air hub in Kentucky walked off the job in protest of the
company's unfair labor practices. In June, Amazon Labor Union
members at JFK8 in Staten Island
voted to affiliate with the Teamsters by a near unanimous 98.3
percent in favor. In August, Amazon drivers in Palmdale, Calif., secured a monumental victory
when National Labor Relations Board Region 31 made a determination
that Amazon is a joint employer of its drivers, and therefore has a
legal duty to recognize and bargain with the Teamsters. The growing
momentum is inspiring more Amazon workers to join the thousands
already part of the union.
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.
Contact:
Emily Orlich,
emily.orlich@berlinrosen.com
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SOURCE International Brotherhood of Teamsters