LAKELAND, Fla. (WFLA) – Bay area current and retired truck drivers are showing their solidarity with Amazon workers on strike, calling for a contract with unionized workers.
“Who are we?” chanted the protestors. “Teamsters.”
A dozen or so Teamsters members gathered outside the Amazon facility on County Line Road in Lakeland Thursday and Friday.
“Just helping to organize Amazon, how they treat their employees and making it better. They’re a, what, $2 trillion company and they can’t pay their employees better?” said Jeff Slaten, a truck driver.
They say being part of the Teamsters union makes their lives as truck drivers better.
“If you don’t have a good contract or something like that, they can run over you pretty easy,” said Charlie Miller, a retired truck driver.
“We’re out here supporting the Amazon workers all over the central Florida region. That way they can see us and be seen,” said Thor Johnson, a UPS driver and volunteer organizer with Teamsters Local Union 79.
Amazon workers in Lakeland are not involved in the larger movement by the Teamsters union in other states.