Amazon A delivery driver at one of the company’s California facilities has joined Teamster’s International Brotherhood, the union said Monday.
A group of 84 workers at Amazon’s warehouse in Palmdale, California, was voluntarily recognized by third-party shipping contractor Battle-Tested Strategies and represented by Teamsters. This allows workers and teamsters to avoid a difficult and potentially months-long union election process.
Battle-Tested Strategies is one of many third-party shipping companies that Amazon has contracted to deliver packages to shoppers’ doorsteps. Amazon launched its Shipping Services Partner Program in 2018, recruiting small businesses to expand its internal logistics operations and advance its goal of speeding up deliveries.
Teamsters and Battle-Tested reached a tentative agreement last week that will be voted on by members in the coming weeks, a Teamsters spokesperson said. The agreement includes immediate wage increases and significant hourly wage increases, along with provisions to address concerns about health and safety standards.
The deal comes after employees in previous years expressed concerns related to conditions at the site, particularly excessive heat, the spokesperson said. The Palmdale site, known as DAX8, is located in the High Desert area of Southern California, north of Los Angeles.
“I want fair wages and a safe job so I can feed my family,” Rajpal Singh, an Amazon delivery driver at the Palmdale facility, said in a statement. “I would like to know if I can go home to my family at night after delivering Amazon packages in extreme heat. I have worked with my teammates to organize to change working conditions for the better. “
In a statement, Amazon said it ended Battle-Tested before Monday’s union announcement, but did not specify when the deal ended.
“This particular third-party company has a track record of poor performance,” Amazon spokesperson Eileen Hards said in a statement.
Battle-Tested owner Johnathon Ervin disputed Amazon’s statement, saying the company has a “current deal” with Amazon. Irvin claims that Amazon terminated his company’s contract in retaliation for raising concerns about safety and working conditions.
The Teamsters and other large unions have set their sights on organizing warehouse and delivery workers at Amazon, the second largest private employer in the United States, last year. launch A division intended to direct the resources that fund and organize Amazon employees.
Randy Korgan, head of Teamsters’ Amazon division, said the union is “coordinating nationally” with Amazon workers.
So far, only one Amazon warehouse in the U.S. has voted to join the union. Workers at the JFK8 site in Staten Island, New York, are a grassroots group of current and former employees who joined the union last April. I voted on behalf of the Amazon union. However, the union has yet to strike a deal with Amazon as the company continues to challenge the election results in court.
The Covid pandemic has boosted organizing efforts at Amazon. Some contract delivery drivers have gone on strike or created petitions to voice their health and safety concerns. In addition to the pandemic-related issues, drivers routinely describe their work pace as crazy, bathroom breaks infrequent, and vans damaged.
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