Illinois Amazon Workers Strike Joining Teamsters in Walk Out

At the Amazon facility in Skokie, Illinois today workers picketed in showing support for delivery drivers striking against the E-commerce giant.

This action is being folded in with the Teamsters strike against Amazon that is happening in different cities across the country less than a week before Christmas.

The Teamsters set a December 15 deadline for negotiations with Amazon didn’t respond to. The Teamsters say they represent some 10,000 workers at 10 different Amazon facilities across the country. That number (10,000) is less than one percent of Amazon’s 1.5 million person workforce.

Walkouts began today at six locations across the country and other facility workers at different locations say they are prepared to join the walkout.

This situation is meant to pressure Amazon into a new agreement with the Teamsters as they flex on the super heavy Christmas shipping season in the hopes of getting a new deal quickly.

Amazon however says the Teamsters representing the delivery drivers aren’t their employees. The are hired as a third-party deliverer and that’s why they haven’t negotiated. The drivers say Amazon is so big and control what they do that even though they are a third-party group they are still essentially working for Amazon.

The National Labor Relations Board is currently fending off a lawsuit on its’ constitutionality from Amazon for entertaining up the third-party case in the first place.

Could your packages be delayed? Maybe. If this walkout grows in support of the drivers across the country and more Amazon workers do walkout and picket. Stay tuned.