Employees at Amazon's seven U.S. warehouses, including one in New York City, walked off the job Thursday, less than a week until Christmas, but that may be enough to disrupt the holiday for some unhappy customers. do not have.
The strikes are taking place at seven Amazon warehouses serving major metropolitan shopping markets, including Southern California. Atlanta, Georgia. Skokie, Illinois. There is also one major last-mile facility in Maspeth, Queens, according to the Teamsters union.
The strike has left major e-tailers scrambling to find other third-party delivery contractors just one week before the holiday season, said Mark Wolflert, head of MWPVL International, a supply chain consulting firm that tracks Amazon. He told the Post that it could be.
The Seattle-based e-tailing giant will likely rely on Amazon Flex drivers and other third-party couriers to deliver packages using its own vehicles, experts said.
Meanwhile, customers in the New York area could see deliveries delayed by one to three days, and their Christmas gifts could be left behind in warehouses, said Kenin Spivak, chairman and CEO of SMI Group. he told the Post.
“Amazon's contractors won't be able to bring in others right away because it's too close to Christmas,” Spivak said.
The Amazon strike is reminiscent of October's East Coast port strike, which did little to disrupt the flow of goods but led to higher wages for dockworkers.
Spivak said the success was due to the huge size and power of the International Longshoremen's Association.
By comparison, the Teamsters' Amazon strike has been disorganized, limited and sporadic, making contract negotiations unlikely to be successful.
Not all of Amazon's third-party delivery contractors are on strike, or even close.
“Amazon operates 593 delivery stations in the United States. [seven] Some of them called for a strike,” Wolfrat told the Post. “This has a relatively minor impact on Amazon's business.”
Nevertheless, the strike comes at the worst possible time this year, so Amazon and its customers won't be completely unscathed.
“Some third-party shippers may be paralyzed by strikes and others may not. So whether a particular customer’s shipment is assigned to one of those third-party shippers is a matter of It depends,” Spivak told the Post.
Third-party workers at the seven striking facilities handle between 350,000 and 400,000 packages a day during Amazon's busy holiday season, Wolfrat said.
The union has not announced a strike at Amazon's Staten Island warehouse, but it did announce that rank-and-file employees at the distribution center voted Friday to authorize a strike.
Spivak said that if workers at the Staten Island distribution center go on strike, the Teamsters will be more likely to pressure Amazon into a new collective bargaining agreement, and the strike could derail even more shipments. said that it was high.
“The truth is that the Teamsters were actively trying to intimidate and intimidate Amazon employees and third-party drivers into joining the Teamsters, which is illegal and against the union. and is the subject of multiple pending unfair labor practice charges,” Amazon said. statement.
“Without adequate support from our employees and partners, they are bringing in outsiders to harass and intimidate our teams, which is inappropriate and dangerous,” Amazon added. Ta.
The Teamsters are calling it the largest strike against Amazon in U.S. history, launched after the e-commerce giant failed to negotiate a contract by a Dec. 15 deadline.
“If your package gets delayed during the holidays, you can blame Amazon's insatiable greed,” Teamsters President Sean O'Brien said in a statement.
Amazon said no impact to its operations is expected.
