Amazon Drivers in Teamsters Union Go On Strike Over Safety

Drivers working through a contractor for Amazon.com Inc. went on strike Thursday, calling on the retail giant to address allegedly unsafe working conditions and come to the bargaining table.

The labor action by a union of drivers and dispatchers in Palmdale, Calif. was announced Friday by a campaign associated with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which said the strike was the first by drivers for Amazon in the US.

In April, 84 delivery drivers and dispatchers, who work as employees of a third-party contractor Battle-Tested Strategies, unionized with Teamsters Local 396 in Los Angeles.

Their status as employees of the contractor, however, has stalled the union’s ability to negotiate with Amazon.

The union claims employees are required to work in extreme heat and in vans that do not have air conditioning or proper tires or doors. Amazon has said it’s the contractor’s responsibility, not its own, to ensure the vans are functioning properly.

“Amazon has no respect for the rule of law, the health of its workers, or the livelihood of their families,” Randy Korgan, director of the Teamsters Amazon Division said in a statement Friday.

Last month, the Teamsters filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board alleging Amazon illegally refused to sign the union’s collective bargaining agreement and terminated its contract with BTS, which had been set to auto-renew in October 2023.

Amazon denied any wrongdoing and said the contract with BTS was terminated for performance reasons.

BTS “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,” Amazon spokesperson Eileen Hards said in an email.

The workers claim that despite their classification as third-party contractors, Amazon controls every aspect of their employment, including prohibiting them from driving for another company, according to the ULP charge.