ALPHARETTA, Ga. — With less than a week to go until Christmas, Amazon workers at several facilities around the country were initiating a strike Thursday morning.
It was due to begin at 6 a.m., and picketers could be seen on the ground in New York.
11Alive crews were outside Amazon's metro Atlanta delivery facility in Alpharetta early in the morning, though picketing wasn't planned here until 9 a.m.
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You can re-view what the scene looked like outside the facility from roughly 7-8 a.m. below
We'll update this story with strike developments as they come in Thursday from the metro Atlanta DGT8 facility.
More on the Amazon strike
According to a statement, the Teamsters union represents nearly 10,000 Amazon workers at ten facilities throughout the U.S. The Atlanta facility is among eight of those locations that have authorized strikes. The union said the strike would be the largest in American history and aimed to highlight poor working conditions and low pay.
“Amazon is one of the biggest, richest corporations in the world,” said Gabriel Irizarry, a driver at DIL7 in Skokie, Ill. “They talk a big game about taking care of their workers, but when it comes down to it, Amazon does not respect us and our right to negotiate for better working conditions and wages. We can’t even afford to pay our bills.”
Amazon has pushed back against the union’s claims, stating that the workers involved are not its employees.
“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 about the independent small businesses who deliver on our behalf," Amazon Spokesperson Eileen Hards said.
The Teamsters also refuted that statement, saying the company "cannot fool the American public into believing drivers delivering Amazon packages in Amazon-branded vans don’t actually work for Amazon."
As recently as September, the union voted to approve a tentative contract agreement with UPS, according to AP Business Writer Michaelle Chapman. The deal came after "contentious labor negotiations that threatened to disrupt package deliveries for millions of businesses and households nationwide."
“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. “These greedy executives had every chance to show decency and respect for the people who make their obscene profits possible. Instead, they’ve pushed workers to the limit and now they’re paying the price. This strike is on them.”
Amazon has maintained that its delivery operations will continue without interruption, citing its extensive network of independent contractors. Details about the strike’s potential impact on customers or specific delivery hubs remain unclear.
“What we’re doing is historic,” said Leah Pensler, a warehouse worker at DCK6 in San Francisco. “We are fighting against a vicious union-busting campaign, and we are going to win.”
