Pittsburgh-area union workers and leaders picketing in support of Amazon strike in major U.S. cities
IMPERIAL, Pa. (KDKA) -- Local union workers and leaders are picketing outside of a Pittsburgh-area Amazon facility as workers for the shopping and shipping giant are striking in several large cities across the United States.
Kevin Schmitt, the head of the Local Teamsters 249 says that workers at the Imperial facility are not unionized, but he and other local union leaders are hitting the picket lines in solidarity with workers across the country. Picketers showed up early Thursday morning.
Schmitt says Amazon has ignored requests to sit down and negotiate, adding that workers are not paid well and treated poorly.
"Their workers are fed up with low pay," Schmitt said. "They don't pay them well and they treat them terrible. They've voted to go Teamsters union. Over 9,000 of them. And Amazon has a legal right to sit down and negotiate with good faith and they're refusing. So that is why we're here."
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters says workers at seven Amazon facilities throughout the country are striking this morning in an effort to pressure the shipping giant for a labor agreement during the key holiday shopping period.
They say the workers who authorized strikes are joining the picket line after Amazon ignored a December 15 deadline the union set for contract negotiations.
Right now, according to the union, the strikes are taking place in San Francisco, southern California, New York City, Atlanta and Illinois.
Amazon says it doesn't expect an impact on its operations during what the union calls the largest strike against the company in U.S. history.
The Teamsters say they represent nearly 10,000 workers at 10 different facilities, a small portion of the 1.5 million people Amazon employs at its warehouses and corporate offices.
Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel provided KDKA with the following statement:
"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. The truth is that the Teamsters have actively threatened, intimidated, and attempted to coerce Amazon employees and third-party drivers to join them, which is illegal and is the subject of multiple pending unfair labor practice charges against the union."
