Amazon warehouse workers across the US are striking ahead of the holiday rush

“These greedy executives had every opportunity to show decency and respect to the people who make their obscene profits possible,” Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien he said in a public statement. “Instead, they pushed workers to the limits and now they are paying the price. This blow is on them.”

This has been a record year for Amazon. According to the company’s third quarter earnings report, earnings are from July through September It rose 55 percent 2024 compared to the same period last year. In a press release Published with the earnings report, Amazon President and CEO Andy Jassy said the company is “excited about what we have in store for customers” for the holiday season. Report expected Net sales will range between $181.5 billion and $188.5 billion in the fourth quarter.

Amazon spokeswoman Kelly Nantel says, “We have not seen any impact on our operations” from the strikes. “We appreciate the great work our team has done serving their customers and communities, and we continue to focus on delivering customers’ holiday orders.” Nantel also accused the Teamsters of harassing and intimidating Amazon employees.

At DBK4, located in Queens, New York, hundreds of Amazon workers walked on the sidewalk in front of the parking garage exit, sometimes verbally confronting exiting delivery drivers who were crossing the picket line. Several delivery trucks honked their horns in unison as they waited in line to exit the parking garage. Some of the protesting workers raised signs reading, “Amazon abides by the law.” The march included people who came out in solidarity, carrying signs representing the New York State Nurses Association and students of the City University of New York (CUNY).

Meanwhile, New York Police Department officers stood in the street, sometimes yelling and shoving workers who ran off the sidewalk. Just after 9 a.m. ET, the NYPD arrested a delivery driver who tried to exit his delivery truck just outside the parking garage and join the strikers. At approximately 9:50 a.m., the NYPD announced over a loudspeaker that any worker standing in the road would be arrested and charged with disorderly conduct. Shortly after, the NYPD placed one of the Teamsters organizers under arrest, although it is unclear if they were on the street. Eventually, police set up barricades outside the garage and personally began organizing delivery trucks with non-striking Amazon loss prevention workers.