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A National Movement To Organize Amazon ‘Takes Off’

Published Tuesday, October 8, 2024
by Luis Feliz Leon/LaborNotes
A National Movement To Organize Amazon ‘Takes Off’

The Teamsters are spinning off momentum from recent organizing fights to new battle fronts across Amazon’s Logistics Chain.

A group of 100 Warehouse Workers at DCK6, an Amazon Delivery Station in San Francisco, marched on company managers on October 2nd to demand voluntary recognition rather than filing for a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)-supervised Election.

In the Teamsters’ strategy to organize the Logistics Behemoth by a thousand cuts, this is the first time Warehouse Workers - rather than Delivery Drivers nominally employed by a sub-contractor - have demanded recognition.

“I think that they suspected that something was up, because we were gathering in the parking lot and one of the regional managers came out to cuss us out and then went back inside,” said Dori Goldberg, who sorts packages and loads them onto trucks from 3:20 a.m. to 12 p.m.

“I went inside and he was trying to make small talk with me as I was leading him into the break room, where we had all assembled.  When he came in, his face - he was shocked to see so many of our Co-Workers standing shoulder to shoulder.  I could sense that he was scared.  And it felt great to, for once, have our voices be heard by management and take that power back.”

Amazon Founder Jeff Bezos has described the company’s strategy as a “flywheel,” meaning momentum in each area of the business spurs fresh momentum in others, accelerating the whole machineBut it exploits its power in one business market after another - for example, retail - to consolidate its overall monopoly in logistics and make inroads against competitors like UPS, FedEx and the U.S. Postal Service.

The Teamsters are engaged in a similar strategy to challenge Amazon’s power - building momentum by organizing in various areas along its Logistics Chain.

To Continue Reading This Labor News Report, Go To: A National Movement to Organize Amazon Takes Off | Labor Notes

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