Amazon workers strike in first driver walkout.

Amazon Workers in California Stage Historic Walkout

Dozens of workers who drive for Amazon in California staged the country’s first driver walkout this week, demanding that Amazon bargain with their union.

The workers are delivery drivers and dispatchers at Battle-Tested Strategies, which is subcontracted by Amazon and located in Palmdale, California, which is just north of Los Angeles.

Union Contract Dispute

The workers organized a union with the Teamsters in April and negotiated and ratified a contract with the union, but the Teamsters said that despite the “absolute control” Amazon wields over the drivers, it has refused to honor the union contract.

“Amazon is attacking these 84 Teamsters and the whole community of Palmdale with its exploitative practices,” said Victor Mineros, secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 396. “This community deserves good jobs, and we are all on the picket line today to fight for them.”

The Teamsters billed the Thursday walkout as “historic” because it represented the first strike by U.S. Amazon drivers.

But Amazon contends that the Teamsters are misrepresenting the situation.

“While we respect everyone’s right to express their opinions, the facts here are being intentionally misrepresented by the Teamsters and [the union],” an Amazon spokeswoman told the Washington Examiner. “This company has a history of underperformance and not providing a safe environment, and was notified that Amazon was ending their contract before the Teamsters got involved to try and re-write the facts.”

The spokeswoman said that workers were notified that their contract was expiring on April 14 and that they announced the unionization push later that month. Their contract is set to expire on June 24.

Growing Wave of Union Activity

The move comes amid a growing wave of union activity that has seen Amazon workers pushing to organize in recent years.

Last year, an Amazon warehouse in Staten Island, New York, became the first to vote in favor of unionizing, and, in 2021, a warehouse’s drive to organize a facility in Bessemer, Alabama, grabbed national attention, with politicians on both sides of the aisle, including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), supporting the push, albeit for different reasons.

The Amazon Labor Union was behind the drive in Staten Island. While Amazon has a companywide minimum wage, compared to New York City’s $11 minimum wage, workers on Staten Island had hoped to unionize to address not just pay but other matters as well.

UPS Workers Vote to Authorize Strike

In other big union news this week, UPS workers represented by the Teamsters voted Friday by a 97% margin to authorize a strike.

If an agreement between the union and the company isn’t reached by the time worker contracts expire at the end of July, the workers would be authorized to strike, a move that would have big economic repercussions and put President Joe Biden in a bind about whether to intervene.

Biden avoided another politically fraught intervention this week after West Coast ports faced disruptions and delays during contract negotiations between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and the Pacific Maritime Association. Business groups had been pushing the president to step in.

After fears of more supply chain congestion, dockworkers announced a tentative deal with their employers on a new labor agreement. Biden touted the agreement shortly after it was announced.

“As I have always said, collective bargaining works, and I congratulate both parties at the ports for reaching an agreement,” Biden said. “Above all, I congratulate the port workers, who have served heroically through the pandemic and the countless challenges it brought and will finally get the pay, benefits, and quality of life they deserve.”

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