A half dozen members and officers of Teamsters Local 206 gathered outside the Troutdale Amazon Fulfillment Center from sunup to sundown Dec. 19 and 20, waving picket signs and asking drivers to honk their horns as they left the warehouse. It was one of hundreds of Teamster solidarity rallies around the country in support of striking Amazon delivery drivers.
Drivers at delivery hubs in California, Georgia, Illinois, and New York waged a strike from Dec. 19-24 — the height of the last minute holiday shopping rush. Their strike demand was that Amazon come to the bargaining table.
Amazon has argued that Teamster-represented delivery drivers in California, Georgia, Illinois, and New York, are employed by subcontractors, so the company doesn’t have to bargain with the union at all. The Teamsters union counters that since the workers only ship Amazon packages, dispatch from Amazon facilities, and drive Amazon-branded blue and grey trucks, Amazon should be considered a joint employer and therefore be required to bargain.
While the Troutdale rally was calm, at a distribution center in Queens, New York, at least one striking worker and one supporter were arrested when police broke a picket line to allow trucks driven by workers who crossed the picket line to get out. Two days later warehouse workers at the JFK8 fulfilment center in Staten Island joined the delivery drivers in walking off the job. Those workers voted to unionize in 2022 but the company still hasn’t recognized their union, nor its decision to affiliate with the Teamsters in June 2024.
