Amazon Teamsters are on strike around the country because the company refuses to recognize their union and bargain a contract. Local 804 led the way with the nation’s first picket line on December 19 at 6 am.

Three hundred Amazon workers, Teamsters, and labor and community supporters packed the picket line at Amazon’s DBK4 facility in Maspeth. 

“Driving for Amazon is tough,” said Luc Rene, a worker at DBK4. “What’s even tougher is fighting a mega-corporation that constantly breaks the law and games the system. But we won’t give up.”

Amazon Teamsters in seven cities are now on strike, including Queens, NY; Skokie, IL; Atlanta, GA; San Francisco, CA; Victorville, CA; Palmdale, CA; and City of Industry, CA.

Over the past year, Amazon workers at eight facilities have organized to join the Teamsters. Amazon is required by law to recognize the union and negotiate a union contract. 

But Amazon and billionaires like Jeff Bezos think they can break the law without consequences. We’re not going to do nothing while they stonewall us in the legal system. We are building street heat. 

The strike at Amazon is the largest in American history. Teamsters extended picket lines to dozens of Amazon fulfillment centers to put maximum pressure on the company and to reach out to Amazon workers who aren’t Teamsters yet.

It’s all part of a national movement to build enough power to ultimately force Amazon to the bargaining table. This will be an ongoing fight and it will take all hands on deck to win.

Amazon’s sweatshop business model is a threat to all of us. Amazon workers are fighting for a better future, and to stop the race to the bottom. Their fight is our fight.

“I came out to the picket line to protect our craft, and to protect what gave me a good standard of living–my union!” said Angelique Dawkins, a UPS Teamster in Local 804.

“Amazon Teamsters are being left with no other choice but to strike,” said Vincent Perrone, President of Local 804. “These Amazon workers have the full weight of our union supporting them.”

Join the picket line at Amazon’s DBK4 at 55-15 Grand Avenue in Maspeth. One union. One goal!