The workers’ union hopes that adding employees at the Staten Island warehouse to a protest started by delivery drivers will increase pressure on Amazon.
By Rakin Malik | Dec 21, 2024 at 04:28 p.m. ET Updated
Signaling an escalation in a labor campaign that began at seven Amazon delivery hubs on Thursday, workers at the company’s largest Staten Island warehouse began a protest there at midnight on Saturday.
By late morning, a group of around 100 people — a small percentage of the more than 5,000 workers at that warehouse — had gathered outside. Union organizers had set up tents, food stations and a heater next to a bus station across the street from the warehouse. Many of the workers said they had been scheduled to work that day and did not clock in, while others said they had not been scheduled to work.
They were joined by New York’s attorney general, Letitia James, who spoke briefly and told the workers that “the law is on your side.”
“I want all of you to know that Amazon can’t just share the benefits of your hard work at the top,” Ms. James said. “They need to make sure that you are being paid.”
The protest during the holiday rush raises questions about how much of an impact it will have on Amazon’s operations. Similar questions have accompanied walkouts led by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters at delivery hubs in New York, Georgia, Illinois and California, which began Thursday.
Kelly Nantel, a spokeswoman for Amazon, said the protest had not affected operations at the Staten Island warehouse. On Saturday, Amazon delivery trucks continued to roll in and out of the Staten Island warehouse with ease, although some did honk in support of the workers.
The Staten Island warehouse, known as JFK8, employs by far the largest group at Amazon who have sought to be represented by the Teamsters. That makes it the union’s greatest potential source of leverage as the Teamsters tries to pressure Amazon to bargain with drivers and other workers who have organized.
The workers who joined the labor action said they wanted Amazon to provide better pay, sick leave and working conditions.
“Amazon is jeopardizing the holidays for consumers so they can try to make an extra buck,” Connor Spence, president of the local chapter representing workers at JFK8, said in a statement. “Amazon workers are standing up to demand this corporation finally treat them with respect.”
Unlike the drivers the Teamsters have tried to unionize at delivery hubs, the Staten Island workers are employed by Amazon directly rather than through contractors. That gives them a somewhat stronger legal foothold for challenging the company.
Anthony Grant, who has worked at JFK8 for four years, said he did not show up for his typical shift on Saturday, which starts at 6:15 a.m.
“Amazon is not a bad place to be, but they fall short on a lot of things,” said Mr. Grant, who earns roughly $24 an hour for processing damaged goods. He said he was striking for better pay and workplace conditions.
Thomas Clowery, who processes, stamps and stows items at JFK8, has worked at the warehouse since it opened in 2018 and said he was striking for better pay and benefits.
“They’re way underpaying us,” said Mr. Clowery, who had been scheduled to work an additional holiday shift on Saturday that was mandatory. He said that the $24 hourly wage he earned wasn’t enough to live comfortably in Staten Island.
Seth Siegel, 65, who also stows items at the warehouse, said the improvements he was seeking were “comprehensive,” including more break time, vacation days and pay.
“Amazon won’t sit down and negotiate with us,” said Mr. Siegel, who was not scheduled to work on Saturday. “Right now, it’s just take it or leave it, and some of it we feel should be negotiated.”
The JFK8 workers joined a union called the Amazon Labor Union when they voted to unionize in 2022. The A.L.U. was initially independent, and it struggled to sustain the support of workers in the warehouse and to secure gains from Amazon, which challenged the election outcome and has refused to recognize or bargain with the union. (The National Labor Relations Board certified the election, but a federal court paused further action on the case while the company challenged the constitutionality of the board.)
In June, the A.L.U. affiliated with the Teamsters under an agreement that gave the new A.L.U. local the exclusive right within the Teamsters to organize Amazon warehouses in New York City. The agreement also promised that the international union would help the local with organizing, research, communications and legal matters.
At the time, A.L.U. leaders said that the Teamsters told them that the international union had allocated $8 million for organizing efforts at Amazon, and that the Teamsters were also prepared to tap a strike fund of more than $300 million to support the effort.
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