Workers at Amazon Build Power, Ready to Join Newly Chartered ALU-IBT Local 1

(STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.) — 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. 

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