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.Â
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.Â
“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,
[email protected] Â
SOURCE International Brotherhood of Teamsters
