Today is a historic day.
For the first time, Amazon workers across the country are going on strike, starting at 7 distribution centers across the country. This action comes in the midst of the holiday shopping season, as Amazon workers are being forced to work grueling overtime to meet overwhelming demand.
In the coming days, additional Amazon facilities will join the strike: JFK8 in New York City; DGT8 in Atlanta; DFX4, DAX5, and DAX8 in Southern California; DCK6 in San Francisco; and DIL7 in Skokie, Illinois, along with other locations.
By 6 a.m. at the DBK4 facility in Queens, New York, hundreds of drivers hit the picket lines, refusing to deliver packages. They engaged in conversations with their co-workers — some of whom were entering the facility to work, others who were convinced to join the picket line. Many who were about to enter the facility instead parked outside and stood with their co-workers, joining the strike. There is growing solidarity among the workers. “We work for nothing– we don’t get protection, we don’t get money– and we work for this rich boss who is exploiting us. This strike is for our respect,” one driver said to another, convincing him to join the picket line. They were joined by healthcare workers, UPS drivers, students, and young people, all standing in solidarity with this historic strike.
The police have already arrived at the picket — specifically the Strategic Response Group, notorious for its brutal treatment of Palestinian protesters over the past year. The cops arrested both a driver and a Teamster. The driver, who was pulling out of Amazon with a truck full of packages, stopped to engage with the striking workers. In response, the police pulled him from his vehicle and arrested him — an outrageous act of intimidation. This driver has been freed by the police and the strikers are undeterred. They will not back down.