Staten Island Amazon workers join strike amid holiday rush

STATEN ISLAND (PIX11) -- Amazon workers at the JFK8 warehouse in Staten Island joined in the nationwide strike against the tech company on Saturday morning.

The Staten Island warehouse is the latest to join in the strike after the DBK4 warehouse in Maspeth, Queens.

Thousands of Amazon workers in New York, Atlanta, California, and Illinois are picketing as a result of the company's reported refusal to negotiate contracts with the union after a deadline of Dec. 15.

The union has been fighting for higher wages, improved benefits, and safer working conditions for warehouse workers.

“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 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.”

PIX11 News reached out to Amazon for a statement and received the following response from Kelly Nantel, an Amazon spokesperson:

“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. 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.”