How the Amazon strike could affect consumers this holiday season

NEW YORK - The International Brotherhood of Teamsters is launching strikes today at seven Amazon facilities, strategically timed less than a week before Christmas, a critical period for e-commerce. 

The move aims to pressure Amazon into reaching a labor agreement. Among the affected locations is a Staten Island warehouse, where thousands of workers, once aligned with the Amazon Labor Union, have since joined the Teamsters.

FOX 5 NY's Hayley Fixler reports that the Teamsters deliberately scheduled the strike during the holiday season to maximize its impact.

The Teamsters represent nearly 10,000 workers across 10 Amazon facilities, including warehouses and corporate offices.

Why are Amazon workers on strike?

"Amazon is pushing its workers closer to the picket line by failing to show them the respect they have earned," said Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien in a statement.

The union asserts that Amazon failed to resolve contract negotiations by the Dec. 15 deadline, prompting the strike. The Teamsters argue that Amazon exerts significant control over its drivers and should be classified as their employer. This stance has been supported by some U.S. labor regulators in filings with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). 

In Sept. , Amazon increased driver pay in response to mounting pressure.

How will this affect consumers?

Amazon maintains that the Teamsters represent a small fraction of its 1.5 million-strong workforce. The company states it does not anticipate disruptions to operations, despite the union describing the strike as the largest in Amazon’s history.

Amazon strike in Staten Island

The Seattle-based retailer has sought to overturn the Staten Island union election that led to the Teamsters’ representation of the warehouse. Amazon has filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the NLRB in this matter.

Where are the Amazon strikes happening?

Today’s strikes are taking place at one Amazon warehouse in San Francisco, California, and six delivery stations in southern California, New York City, Atlanta, Georgia, and Skokie, Illinois. The union has indicated that workers at other facilities are "prepared to join."

What is Amazon saying?

Amazon contends that the delivery drivers organized by the Teamsters are not its employees. Instead, these drivers work for third-party businesses, known as Delivery Service Partners, which handle millions of package deliveries daily.

"For more than a year now, the Teamsters have continued to intentionally mislead the public—claiming that they represent ‘thousands of Amazon employees and drivers.’ They don’t, and this is another attempt to push a false narrative," said Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel in a statement.