With Christmas two days away, workers at four Amazon warehouses in Southern California are on strike Monday on claims the corporate giant refuses to recognize their union and negotiate fair contracts.
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, representing 1.3 million workers across the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico, announced their members in Palmdale, Victorville, Industry and San Bernardino voted to authorize strikes — a move that came after Amazon ignored a deadline on Dec. 15 to come to the bargaining table, according to the union.
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Amazon workers represented by the union went on strike at 3 a.m. Thursday and joined Amazon union workers across the country who also went on strike.
“The corporate elitists who run Amazon are leaving workers with no choice,” Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien said in a statement.
“Greedy executives are pushing thousands of hardworking Americans to the brink,” he continued. “Amazon rakes in more money than anybody, they subject workers to injury and abuse at every turn, and they illegally claim not to be the rightful employer of nearly half their workforce.”