By ERNIE GOTTA
Two arrests were made on the picket line outside Amazon DB4 distribution center in Maspeth, Queens. Amazon delivery driver Jogernsyn Cardenas was detained after trying to stop his delivery truck and join the picket line. Cardenas is one of the rank-and-file leaders of the organizing efforts at Amazon. Tony Rosario, a veteran Teamster staff organizer and participant in the 1997 UPS strike, was also arrested.
The arrests highlight larger issues of repression and exploitation by the Jeff Besoz-owned company. Wages, health care, workload, and quality of life are just a few of the reasons Amazon workers organized by the Teamsters union are going out on strike. Instead of allowing workers to express themselves and stop delivery trucks from moving, police stepped in to defend the profits of the company.
Amazon is the second-largest corporation on the Fortune 500 list. Despite being worth more than $2 trillion, the company fails to pay its workers enough to make ends meet. The Teamsters are targeting 1000 locations during the holiday season with an Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) strike to put pressure on Amazon to come to the table and negotiate with facilities like JFK8 in Staten Island, N.Y. that voted for the union back in 2022. Initial actions are taking place at Amazon facilities like DBK4 in New York City, DGT8 in Atlanta; DFX4, DAX5, and DAX8 in Southern California; DCK6 in San Francisco, and DIL7 in Skokie, Ill. More locations will have mass pickets and more workers will be walking off the job in the coming days, possibly creating logistical nightmares during the peak season.
A Dec. 19 press release by the Teamsters quotes Gabriel Irizarry, a driver at DIL7 in Skokie, Ill., “Amazon is one of the biggest, richest corporations in the world. They talk a big game about taking care of their workers, but when it comes down to it, Amazon does not respect us and our right to negotiate for better working conditions and wages. We can’t even afford to pay our bills.”
We encourage everyone to attend picket lines, make donations, or join a phone banking session to turn out workers for the strike. Solidarity with Amazon workers everywhere!
