Striking SoCal Amazon Drivers Bring Picket Line To NorCal

TRACY, CA — Striking Amazon delivery drivers and dispatchers from Palmdale took their picket line north on Wednesday to a fulfillment center in Tracy.

"A trillion-dollar company like Amazon can do better than $19.75 an hour for the people who deliver its packages," Brandon Vides, a striking Amazon driver who traveled to Tracy for the picket line, said in a news release. "We are on strike to put an end to Amazon's unfair labor practices and force this company to take responsibility for the wellbeing of its workers."

The strike began earlier this summer after 84 Palmdale workers in April joined Teamsters Local 396 and bargained a contract with Amazon delivery service partner Battle-Tested Strategies, according to the news release from the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. The e-commerce giant refused to recognize the contract and terminated the entire unit, the union said.

Amazon said that Battle-Tested Strategies, whose employees do not work for Amazon, was terminated April 14 due to breach of contract following three instances in which it failed to pay insurance and three cases in which it did not finish vehicle safety audits.

The Palmdale drivers sometimes work in temperatures exceeding 100 degrees, according to the union, which noted their contract guarantees workers’ right to drive safe equipment and refuse unsafe deliveries.

Since June, workers have picketed at Amazon warehouses in New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Michigan and Georgia, as well as California.

“These protests, which have been initiated and attended by mostly outside organizers, have had no impact on our operations or ability to deliver for our customers,” Amazon spokesperson Eileen Hards said in a prepared statement. “Instead, the Teamsters continue to fuel the spread of misinformation regarding a company that no longer delivers for Amazon.”