Workers at Amazon Build Power, Ready to
Join Newly Chartered ALU-IBT Local 1
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.,
June 18,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Amazon Labor Union members
have voted to affiliate with the 1.3 million-member International
Brotherhood of Teamsters by a near unanimous 98.3 percent in favor.
The labor affiliation brings renewed representation and powerful
resources to Amazon workers as they organize nationwide and demand
a contract from the trillion-dollar global corporation.
ALU-International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) Local 1, which
will be newly chartered, will represent the roughly 5,500 Amazon
warehouse workers at JFK8 in Staten
Island, N.Y., and will have jurisdiction for Amazon
warehouse workers across New
York's five boroughs.
"Workers at Amazon—in the warehouses or behind the wheel—have
proven they have the strength, unity, and determination to take on
the greediest employer on the planet, and win," said Teamsters
General President Sean M. O'Brien.
"Together, with hard work, courage, and conviction, the Teamsters
and ALU will fight fearlessly to ensure Amazon workers secure the
good jobs and safe working conditions they deserve in a union
contract. The Teamsters set the standard with our agreement
protecting 340,000 UPS warehouse workers and drivers in this
industry. You can be certain that we will hold Amazon to these same
standards, and not the other way around. As long as Amazon exploits
and abuses workers, this corporate bully will have to answer to the
Teamsters and ALU, standing together."
"On behalf of the Amazon Labor Union, I'm proud of our members
choosing a path to victory. We're now stronger than ever before,"
said ALU President Chris Smalls.
"Having the support of 1.3 million Teamsters to take on Amazon
gives us tremendous worker power and the opportunities to demand
better conditions for our members and, most importantly, to secure
a contract at JFK8."
"The ratification vote by our members is a historic moment—and
it sends a powerful reminder to Amazon that we're not giving up in
our yearslong campaign for respect, better wages, and safe jobs,"
said Connor Spence of the ALU
Democratic Reform Caucus. "Affiliating with the Teamsters and
chartering a strong, autonomous local union signals a new chapter
for so many working people and for this industry. Amazon workers
nationwide are going to win."
Workers at JFK8 were united, prevailing against an intense
union-busting campaign by Amazon that included the company flooding
its warehouses with managers pressuring workers to vote no,
threatening workers for overseeing ballot boxes, and repeatedly
calling the police when workers were being informed of their
rights.
Local 1 will represent the first ALU-IBT affiliate fully
established under the Teamsters Constitution. Members of ALU-IBT
Local 1 will have access to the financial and organizational
resources of the Teamsters International Union, the Teamsters
Amazon Division, and Teamsters Joint Council 16 in New York.
Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters
represents 1.3 million hardworking people in the U.S., Canada, and Puerto
Rico. Visit Teamster.org for more information. Follow
us on Twitter @Teamsters and "like" us on Facebook at
Facebook.com/teamsters.
Contact:
Kara Deniz, (202)
497-6610
kdeniz@teamster.org
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SOURCE International Brotherhood of Teamsters