Amazon workers and the Teamsters are organizing to win good union jobs at America’s biggest sweatshop.

Amazon’s size and sweatshop business model are a growing threat.

Last year Amazon overtook UPS as the biggest package delivery company in the United States.

The company now employs almost a million workers in the U.S., mainly in low-wage, high-turnover, throw-away jobs.

Amazon pays warehouse workers just $18 an hour. Package delivery drivers average make $20 an hour. Tractor-trailer drivers make $30 an hour.

Organizing Amazon is the only way to protect good Teamster jobs and avoid a race to the bottom in package delivery, warehousing, grocery, and other core industries.

Becoming Teamsters is also the only way that Amazon workers will win the wages, benefits and rights on the job that they deserve.

It won’t be easy. But Teamsters and Amazon workers are building solidarity and organizing momentum across Amazon’s massive network, including air hubs, sortation centers, and delivery stations.

Striking Amazon’s Network

One in five Amazon packages pass through Amazon’s air network for expedited delivery.

The air hubs are massive profit centers and strategic choke points in the company’s delivery network. Now workers are organizing them.

Amazon’s biggest air hub in the country is at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Airport (CVG).

Over 4,000 workers there move packages from cargo planes in and out of the facility and sort them onto planes headed to every corner of the country.

After workers at DHL’s air hub across the street won an organizing drive and strike, Amazon workers at KCVG were inspired to start organizing with the Teamsters.

When management retaliated, workers took action. Over 100 Amazon workers walked off the job in protest. They were backed by workers at Amazon’s second largest air hub, who walked off the job in KSBD in San Bernardino, Calif., in a coordinated action.

Workers at the Amazon air hub in Boise, Idaho, are also organizing. They won a union election and joined Teamsters Local 483. Now they are
in negotiations for their first contract with Swissport, the subcontractor that runs Amazon’s air operations in Boise.

“We are fighting for fair wages and respect. Winning a Teamster contract in Amazon air operations will show Amazon workers that it can
be done,” said Zeth Roark, a member of the bargaining committee.

Drivers Take the Wheel

Amazon delivery drivers, 280,000 strong, deliver more than 1.5 million packages every day.

For years, Amazon has used a legal loophole and subcontracting scam to try to stop drivers from organizing and winning a living wage.

At the heart of the scam is Amazon’s use of a far-flung network of Delivery Service Partners—or DSPs for short.

A DSP is a subcontractor that hires drivers to deliver Amazon packages. But make no mistake. Amazon is the real boss.
Drivers must wear Amazon uniforms, follow Amazon work-rules and procedures, and are routed by Amazon software.

DSP drivers in Palmdale, Calif. called the question when they organized with the Teamsters, went on strike, and spread their picket lines to Amazon facilities across the country.

The issue made its way to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) which has now ruled twice that Amazon is a “joint employer” of DSP drivers and must bargain with them if they unionize.

Now more Amazon drivers are taking the wheel and organizing with the Teamsters.

Amazon delivery drivers at DIL7 in Skokie, Ill., and the DBK4 Delivery Station in Queens, New York, are the latest to march on the boss to demand union recognition.

“I’m tired of the disrespect and the unfair treatment,” said a DBK4 driver in a video posted to TikTok.

Warehouse workers at DCK6 in San Francisco became the first warehouse workers at an Amazon Delivery Station to demand recognition with the Teamsters.

Help Meet the Amazon Challenge

Teamster organizing and worker action at Amazon are growing. The International Union is increasing the budget and activity of the Amazon Division. Grassroots action is growing too.

Local unions are building volunteer organizing committees and working with the Amazon Division to train volunteer organizers. These pilot programs need to multiply and spread.

Rank-and-file Teamsters who helped organize the winning contract campaign at UPS are joining the fight. Some are working as Teamster organizers. Others are joining Amazon picket lines.

Striking Amazon Teamsters have extended picket lines to more than a dozen cities this year. This tactic pressures the company, and it helps connect organizers with Amazon workers who want to learn more about joining the Teamsters.

As Amazon organizing grows, so will walkouts, strikes, and picket line extensions. Be ready to stand shoulder to shoulder with Teamsters and Amazon workers on a strike line near you.

Educating & Involving Teamsters

“Members need to understand that what happens at Amazon affects us big-time. TDU workshops and webinars are one way we can inform Teamsters and get members involved in meeting the Amazon challenge.”

Josh Page, Local 891
Jackson, Miss.

Learning to Organize With TDU

“TDU helped me get the skills and the confidence to organize on my job and in the UPS contract campaign. Now, I’m helping Amazon workers organize and build power where they work.”

Basil Darling, Amazon Organizer
Local 804, New York

Teamsters Stand In Solidarity

“When Amazon workers from Palmdale extended their strike, I stood with them on the picket line. Amazon has the money. Teamsters have the numbers and our solidarity.”

Hannah Keith, Local 396
Los Angeles