Teamsters stage 'largest strike against Amazon in US history' at 7 facilities nationwide

Amazon drivers went on strike Thursday in four states with Christmas just around the corner – but the company says none of it will keep your gifts from getting to the front door, CNN reported. Teamsters are striking at seven facilities but even if the union does represent thousands of personnel in Amazon’s workforce, that’s only about 1 percent of the total. Amazon is even disputing that the striking employees actually work for Amazon.

In a news release, the Teamsters call the job action the "largest strike against Amazon in US history" that has come as a consequence of Amazon not faithfully bargaining with Teamster-affiliated workers. The Teamsters claim 10,000 Amazon workers in the US belong to the union and are striking for higher wages and more benefits.

"If your package is delayed during the holidays, you can blame Amazon's insatiable greed," reads a statement from Teamsters General President Sean M. O'Brien. "We gave Amazon a clear deadline to come to the table and do right by our members. They ignored it."

“We are struggling and fighting for basic benefits and needs that are otherwise an industry standard,” driver Luke Cianciotto told reporters outside the Skokie, IL facility just before the strike began. “Many of us, we don’t have any Christmas presents under the tree this year. The wages and hours we get working for Amazon simply aren’t enough to get by in today’s economy.”

In a statement to ABC News, Amazon claimed that the Teamsters have illegally forced workers to join the union. "For more than a year now, the Teamsters have continued to intentionally mislead the public – claiming that they represent 'thousands of Amazon employees and drivers.' They don't, and this is another attempt to push a false narrative," Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel said. "The truth is that the Teamsters have actively threatened, intimidated, and attempted to coerce Amazon employees and third-party drivers to join them, which is illegal and is the subject of multiple pending unfair labor practice charges against the union."

The spokesperson said Amazon has upped its starting minimum wage for warehouse staff and drivers by 20 percent and that the average salary is now $22 per hour. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos was seen dining with President-elect Donald Trump and his wife Melania at Mar-a-Lago. Bezos also contributed a $1 million donation to the Trump inauguration fund. Internal polling indicated that a clear majority of Teamsters members supported Trump in the 2024 presidential election.