Police Break Picket Line, Allow Christmas Deliveries to Stream Out
New York City police officers broke up a picket line of Amazon employees trying to block delivery trucks from leaving a company facility on Thursday.
Earlier in the day, nearly 10,000 Amazon workers in multiple states went on strike, less than a week before Christmas.
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters announced in a news release it launched its strike at seven Amazon facilities located in New York, Atlanta, Southern California, San Francisco and Skokie, Illinois.
“If your package is delayed during the holidays, you can blame Amazon’s insatiable greed. We gave Amazon a clear deadline to come to the table and do right by our members. They ignored it,” said Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien.
At an Amazon facility in Queens, the NYPD broke the picket line, allowing delivery trucks to leave, no doubt delivering many Christmas gifts.
“NYPD’s working for Amazon” a union leader shouts as police break up the picket line that was preventing some delivery trucks from leaving.
Cops later put up barricades to prevent striking workers and their allies from blocking trucks. @Teamsters pic.twitter.com/SWg4qSj5Vg
— Duncan Freeman (@deefreemank) December 19, 2024
“NYPD literally locking arms to protect Amazon’s operations lol,” Alex Press, a labor reporter for Jacobin, wrote.
NYPD literally locking arms to protect Amazon’s operations lol pic.twitter.com/BcKxrkaCoG
— Alex Press (@alexnpress) December 19, 2024
She also shared a video of an Amazon truck driver being arrested after he stopped his vehicle in the middle of the facility entrance drive and tried to join the strike.
A policeman then got in the truck and drove it away, Press reported.
from what I can tell, the NYPD just arrested this driver for trying to join the strike. a cop then got in his vehicle and drove it away pic.twitter.com/EL6eOyasdo
— Alex Press (@alexnpress) December 19, 2024
Democrat New York state Sen. Michael Gianaris posted on social media platform X in response, “NYPD out here in Queens doing Amazon’s bidding by roughing up and arresting workers who are standing up for themselves. The [Teamsters] have a right to strike and our police should be protecting them, not Jeff Bezos.”
NYPD out here in Queens doing Amazon’s bidding by roughing up and arresting workers who are standing up for themselves. The @Teamsters have a right to strike and our police should be protecting them, not Jeff Bezos pic.twitter.com/vg6FS0JbIy
— Sen. Mike Gianaris (@SenGianaris) December 19, 2024
Wired reported, “At around 9:50 am, NYPD announced via loudspeaker that any workers who stood in the road would be arrested and charged with disorderly conduct. Shortly after, the NYPD placed a Teamsters organizer under arrest, though it’s unclear if they were in the street. Eventually, police set up barricades outside the garage and began personally organizing the delivery vans with non-striking Amazon loss-prevention workers.”
Breaking: After hours of Amazon Teamsters maintaining a strong picket line, cops broke the picket line for Amazon. pic.twitter.com/tO26JEZGdB
— Luis Feliz Leon (@Lfelizleon) December 19, 2024
Amazon employees are among the highest-paid retail workers in the country.
In September, the company announced it was increasing its total compensation package for fulfillment and transportation workers to more than $29 per hour, an increase of over $3,000 a year for the average full-time employee. That figure included an average base salary of $22 per hour, plus the cost of health care and other benefits, the company said in a news release.
At the scene of the Amazon strike:
The NYPD has now erected barricades to allow Amazon contractors to enter and leave the distribution center, helping Amazon break the picket line. pic.twitter.com/NHwKJmovLl
— Hell Gate *subscribe today!* (@HellGateNY) December 19, 2024
CBS News reported that Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel responded to the strike in a statement saying, “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.”
She added, “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.”
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