Amazon Workers Launch the Most Useless Strike in American Labor History
By Rick MoranAmazon warehouse workers at five locations, representing about 7,000 of Amazon's 800,000 workers in the United States (1.5 million worldwide), went on strike, demanding better wages and benefits.
Apparently, the workers believe that the Teamsters union is representing them. Amazon's response: "Who?"
Amazon does not recognize the Teamsters representation of their workers. “There are a lot of nuances here, but I want to be clear, the Teamsters don’t represent any Amazon employees despite their claims to the contrary,” said Kelly Nantel, an Amazon spokesperson. “This entire narrative is a PR play and the Teamsters’ conduct this past year, and this week is illegal.”
This can only happen in Joe Biden's "pro-union" America. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has certified the Teamsters representation, but Amazon is appealing the ruling.
"If your package is delayed during the holidays, you can blame Amazon's insatiable greed," said Teamsters President Sean O'Brien in a statement. "We gave Amazon a clear deadline to come to the table and do right by our members. They ignored it."
It's unclear whether Amazon was under any obligation to negotiate with a union that represents less than 1% of its workforce.
"Thankfully, the vast majority of our employees and the drivers who deliver on our behalf came to work today to do what they do every day," Nantel said on Thursday. "They're doing a great job of working for their customers and their communities and as a result of their hard work."
Amazon told ABC News that the union illegally coerced employees to join the Teamsters in the first place.
"The truth is that [the Teamsters] were unable to get enough support from our employees and partners and have brought in outsiders to come and harass and intimidate our team, which is inappropriate and dangerous," Amazon said. "We appreciate all our team’s great work to serve their customers and communities and are continuing to focus on getting customers their holiday orders.”
The Teamsters are calling the strike the "largest in history." It's also the most useless. Don't these guys understand the concept of leverage? No packages are going to be delayed and the fact that the union president wants them to be delayed — at Christmas — is a most selfish act during a season of selflessness.
A minuscule number of employees at a huge company have gone on a useless strike that won't dramatically affect the company's operations.
Is this a Gen Z operation, or what?
The strike will have only minor, very limited impact on Amazon shipments, given how many facilities it has and how few are are being struck, said Satish Jindel, president of ShipMatrix, a software provider that tracks on-time delivery data for package shippers. He said it would be similar to an ice storm hitting a region.
“They will have the ability to ship product from other locations. They won’t be shutdown,” he said. “Some packages that might have taken one day to be delivered will now take two. Some that might have taken two days will take three. But it won’t be that many.”
The difference between this strike and a weather event, like an ice storm, Jindel said is that “when an ice storm is over, it’s over. The bad feelings here could continue after the strike.”
The average wage for an Amazon warehouse worker increased to $22 an hour in September. Working conditions are, shall we say, challenging. The company has been cited for safety violations, including ergonomic hazards and unsafe conditions. Amazon workers are 43% more likely to be injured on the job. The primary complaint is that the company expects workers to work hard, sticking to a timetable to keep the line moving.
I'm sure it sucks to be an Amazon warehouse worker. I wouldn't want to work at an Amazon warehouse. But a person's got to do what a person's got to do. Amazon warehouse workers are paid more than those in a lot of other crappy jobs.
Maybe they should quit and find another job that pays $22 an hour.
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