Amazon. The company has grown so fast that no single organization or government agency has been able to keep up. Among the large transport and delivery companies like UPS, FedEx, and DHL, Amazon is widely known for providing their drivers and warehouse workers with wages and benefits below industry standards.
Consequently, all eyes are on the Teamsters organization nationally as they prosecute the case to organize this industry juggernaut.
One of the major ways Amazon has been able to get around paying their employees prevailing wages and benefits is by hiding behind subcontractors. Amazon contracts with smaller delivery companies established specifically to deliver for Amazon, but since these smaller companies are considered contract workers, Amazon is not required to consider them direct employees, and the job protections that come with this arrangement.
Recent NLRB Bombshell Ruling in Favor of Amazon Workers
President Biden’s appointed NLRB board has recently ruled that Amazon’s sleight-of-hand workaround is no longer legally binding to hide behind. In a recent ruling, the NLRB(National Labor Relations Board) has said that regardless of the middleman contract worker status, Unions can now treat these subcontractors as direct employees of Amazon and, therefore, can pursue organizing from a much stronger position for these workers.
So when the Teamsters General President Sean O’Brien and Congressman Adam Schiff did a joint media event to mark this new ruling, Teamsters Local 853 answered the call.
Teamsters 853 President Steven Lua, Vice President Ray Torres, and Recording Secretary Mike Henneberry joined them to show our support for these Amazon workers and this larger national strategy.
The importance of bringing equity and fairness to such a large part of the warehouse and delivery community in the United States cannot be understated. These workers deserve better, and the Teamsters are fighting to bring it to them.
Stay tuned to this space as we bring you more updates on the progress of this very significant initiative and how it will impact the Amazon workers right here in the Bay Area.
