Labor militancy erupts in New York in runup to the holidays

Amazon workers on the picket line. | Taryn Fivek/PW

QUEENS, New York—In the run-up to the holiday season, the diverse, working-class New York City borough of Queens seemed to suddenly erupt with labor militancy. Both the Amazon Teamsters and the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA) took action on December 19 to demand the same thing: that management come to the table with good-faith bargaining that could lift the living conditions of tens of thousands of working New Yorkers and their families.

The Teamsters began their strike and picket at 6 a.m. at Amazon’s DBK4 facility in Maspeth, joining with seven other Amazon locations across the country.

Hundreds of Amazon workers and their allies held signs that read “Amazon: obey the law” and “Amazon is unfair” while chanting and walking a picket that stretched across the garage ramp. Members of other unions, such as the New York State Nurses Association and SEIU 32BJ were present to support them, as well as community activists and a who’s-who of Queens progressive politicians.

People’s World spoke with Antonio Rosario, Teamsters Local 804 and shop steward for DBK4, about why the workers decided that now was the time. “Amazon refuses to negotiate with the union after we’ve shown majority recognition in multiple facilities. This is one of the facilities where we reached a supermajority.”

The reason for Amazon workers seeking a union are clear to Rosario. “The average driver here [at DBK4] makes between $22 and $23 an hour,” he explains. “We’ve got UPS drivers doing the same job, delivering packages, making over $45 an hour, with pension, with benefits. If Amazon can make billions of dollars, and so can UPS, they can pay—and they’re making more than UPS, I can promise you that.”

New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, a candidate for mayor next year, was also out on the picket line. “Amazon is union busting, refusing to recognize the union, refusing to bargain in good faith, refusing to give them the contract they deserve,” he told People’s World. “We keep this wall of shame in the Comptroller’s office that looks at all the companies who do business in New York City, who violate labor law, who cheat their workers of their wages, who have unsafe conditions. Amazon is up at the top of the wall of shame.” Lander told People’s World that Amazon has five times more Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) designations than the company in second place.

Drivers were forced to idle in the dispatch garage while the NYPD occasionally rushed in to break up the picket line. Despite the presence of politicians like city councilmembers Tiffany Caban and Julie Won, Comptroller Brad Lander, and New York Senate Deputy Leader Mike Gianaris, the NYPD was out in full gear, complete with hundreds of white plastic handcuffs hanging from their belts.

“The people on the picket line are the real residents of New York, not the wealthy corporate executives of Amazon. Unfortunately, the NYPD seems to be acting more like the hired guns of Amazon than people protecting the residents of the city today,” observed Gianaris to People’s World.

“It’s clear who the NYPD are protecting, and it’s not us,” adds councilmember Julie Won. “The workers are putting their necks on the line. Recent studies have shown that Amazon workers are at the greatest risk… but Amazon is saying that it’s better for their profit margins.”

Police from the 104th precinct were joined by the Technical Assistant Response Unit, a surveillance squad, the notorious Strategic Response Group, known for its brutality against Black Lives Matter protests, the Firearms and Tactics Section, the Crowd Management Unit, and representatives from the NYPD’s Legal Department. They fire up the LRAD – a sound weapon – that announces that picketers may be subject to arrest.

“I’m hoping that the NYPD are here to protect us as much as they’re here to protect them. Because I honestly don’t feel very protected by them at this moment… I would hope that the cops know better than to arrest people who are exercising their first amendment right,” Rosario tells People’s World.

Such police presence generally necessitates a justification, even if one has to be created. One of the drivers of the trucks exiting DBK4 decides to join the picket, but the moment he exits his truck the NYPD swarm him and another picketer, throwing them in cuffs while the crowd chanted “Let them go!”

“I just watched someone get arrested for trying to join us!” says Tiffany Sanders, a Teamster on the picket line. “The NYPD were trying to force him back in the truck, and he was arrested. Amazon is just very unfair. We just want justice right now.”

Indeed, Rosario, who earlier hoped the NYPD was there to protect the strikers, is one of the two workers who were arrested. Later, they were both released with desk appearance tickets.

“We’ve been organizing for months and we will not stand down. We’re gonna keep fighting until they come and meet us at the table,” said Latrice Johnson, a fellow Teamster.

A number of reasons

Workers tell People’s World a number of reasons why they are striking: wages, benefits, union recognition, and good-faith bargaining. But for some, the reasons are even more deeply personal.

“I recently had a death in the family and they denied my PTO.” Shaun Hutton of Brooklyn commutes two unpaid hours to work every day, and has been with Amazon for three years. “They said that during the peak seasons, we’re not allowed to use any paid time off unless we’re actually sick.”

As the picket line reassembles itself to block more trucks from leaving, the police keep moving in, flanked by Amazon “Loss Prevention” employees, to break the picket line. A handful of Teamster veterans snarl, calling them scumbags. Asking to remain anonymous, they tell People’s World that they’ve never seen the police out with such force at a strike, even when fists were flying.

Yet despite the challenges, workers there intend to soldier on, to possibly be joined soon in their strike by workers from other locations in New York City and across the country in what is the largest strike against Amazon in history.

“All Amazon workers, and just workers period, never be afraid to stand up for what you believe in because that’s the only way you’re going to get somewhere in life,” says Latrice Johnson.

Across the borough, AFA flight attendants from United Airlines are also on a picket line at one of the busiest airports in the country, LaGuardia. They are also sick and tired of waiting for a contract.

Lily Meyer, a flight attendant for 19 years, spoke with People’s World about the reasons behind their informational picket outside of Terminal B. “We’ve been in negotiations for three and a half years working under an outdated contract since 2021 while they are celebrating the most profitable day in our 100-year history, giving our shareholders $1.5 billion in stock buybacks and the executives giving themselves millions of dollars in pay raises. They haven’t given us any pay raises since 2021.”

It’s a more modest picket, but has been consistent for years. United flight attendants have already passed a strike authorization vote, with 99.9% voting yes. “Today we’re opening up the “gear up to strike” list,” Meyer says. Workers can now sign up to be the first ones to take labor action.

While flight attendants like Meyer cannot afford to live in New York without roommates because of sub-par wages, their labor militancy also includes passenger safety. Just as flight attendants are primarily on board for our safety, their union contracts also prioritize such advocacy.  “We’re the ones who made it so there are no knives on planes,” she says dryly. She tells Peoples World that the union is also pushing for an Industry wide no-fly list for problem passengers, and research into clean-cabin air to prevent pollution and the spread of diseases.

Both Amazon and AFA workers point out that their struggles are years in the making. Meyer says that the last three years under a Biden administration have been some of the “most beautiful” in the labor movement, especially with regards to cross-union solidarity. ALPA, SAG-AFTRA, SEIU 32BJ, and two other flight attendants unions are present on the picket line along with AFA.

“As a society, we are being squeezed for more and more productivity and we’re not treated like human beings and we’re not given a living wage. We realize that our strength to actually push  contracts through and enact legislation is to just stand as one body.”

Supporters of the Teamsters strike against Amazon are encouraged to join the picket line tomorrow and in the coming days at DBK4 and beyond. “We’ll be out here all day and night,” said Teamsters shop steward Rosario after his release. “Back on the line!”

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CONTRIBUTOR

Taryn Fivek

Taryn Fivek is a reporter for People's World in New York.