NYPD Arrests Teamsters for ‘Disrupting Traffic’ During Historic Amazon Driver Strike

Amazon workers are striking across the country. The strike began at seven delivery hubs on Thursday and was organized by the Teamsters union. The Union says that it started the strike because Amazon has refused to negotiate with them. The cops were on hand at several locations to bust up the picket lines, arrest striking drivers, and generally make sure that Christmas runs on Amazon’s schedule.

In New York City the police came out in force to break up the picket lines, arrest people, and keep Amazon’s business running.

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

The heart of the issue is how Amazon treats its drivers. Being a delivery driver for Amazon sucks. The driver’s every move is monitored by cameras and cataloged by draconian performance metrics. It’s so demanding that drivers often don’t have time to stop for a bathroom break and resort to pissing and shitting in bags.

Worse, Amazon drivers—who work in Amazon-branded trucks and wear Amazon-branded outfits—aren’t considered employees by the company. Amazon’s stance has long been that the people who make Amazon’s delivery empire work are just contractors working for third-party companies that happen to do business with Amazon.

https://x.com/alexnpress/status/1869748144483054057

Conditions are bad and the strikes have been building for a while. The Teamsters have been working with drivers at several of the third-party contracting companies to organize a union for a while, and Amazon has severed ties with the contractors in retaliation. In October, the National Labor Relations Board in Los Angeles issued a formal complaint against Amazon over how it handles drivers.

“Today, Teamsters from coast to coast launched the largest strike against Amazon in American history. Momentum continues to mount as more workers fight for fair treatment from this $2 trillion corporation,” the International Brotherhood of Teamsters said in a post on X on Thursday. “The Amazon Teamsters movement grows bigger and stronger every day and will not be stopped.”

In NYC, the cops locked arms to disrupt the picket lines and allow Amazon’s delivery trucks to leave the warehouse. They also arrested a driver and a teamster organizer during the protest. The charge? Disrupting traffic.

NYPD literally locking arms to protect Amazon’s operations lol pic.twitter.com/BcKxrkaCoG

— Alex Press (@alexnpress) December 19, 2024

Strikes in other cities, including Dallas, Fall River, Massachusetts, and Imperial, Pennsylvania were more sedate.

Amazon Teamsters are launching what they call “the largest strike against Amazon in U.S. history,” including at the Johnston and Fall River sites. They say the nationwide strike started at 6 a.m. this morning. We’ll have more details on @NBC10 at noon. pic.twitter.com/J9bdeEcAfO

— Temi-Tope Adeleye (@TemiTopereports) December 19, 2024

AMAZON STRIKES IN LAKELAND: Amazon workers are striking at multiple delivery hubs. Here’s what you should know https://t.co/jvGcOcHF4C pic.twitter.com/urTanEcMdD

— WFLA NEWS (@WFLA) December 20, 2024

Local union workers have blocked @amazon trucks from entering Imperial, PA facility. Local 249 head also tells me w/ them striking here, delivery drivers for a variety of shipping companies will not be crossing the picket line, so they could be impacted by this strike@KDKA pic.twitter.com/MdduZP6Zv0

— Lauren Linder (@lauren_linder) December 19, 2024

Amazon seems confident that this will all amount to nothing. It also claims that the Teamsters are outside agitators and doubled down on the claim that its drivers aren’t employees at all.

“Thankfully, the vast majority of our employees and the drivers who deliver on our behalf came to work today to do what they do every day,” Amazon’s Kelly Nantel, director of Global Corporate Issues and Media Relations, told ABC News. “They’re doing a great job of working for their customers and their communities and as a result of their hard work.”

“It doesn’t feel like a job that should be legal,” Riley Holzworth, an Amazon delivery driver in Illinois told Labornotes. “I’ve had a lot of different jobs in this industry, and this one by far feels like my employer is really getting away with a lot.”