'Struggling To Pay Our Bills': Amazon Drivers Strike In Skokie, Demand Union Recognition

SKOKIE, IL — Amazon drivers in Skokie are walking the picket line Thursday as part of a nationwide strike as the International Brotherhood of Teamsters looks to pressure the company to recognize union representation and enter contract negotiations to secure better pay, benefits and safety at work.

Local drivers organized with Teamsters Local 705 are taking part in what union representatives described as one of the largest strikes ever against the dominant e-commerce corporation, including workplace actions at facilities in California, Georgia and New York.

The union had set a deadline of Dec. 15 for Amazon to agree to bargaining dates, which the company ignored.

“If your package is delayed during the holidays, you can blame Amazon’s insatiable greed. We gave Amazon a clear deadline to come to the table and do right by our members. They ignored it,” Teamsters General President Sean O’Brien said in a statement.

“These greedy executives had every chance to show decency and respect for the people who make their obscene profits possible," O'Brien said. "Instead, they’ve pushed workers to the limit and now they’re paying the price. This strike is on them.”

Amazon's Skokie facility, known as DIL7, serves thousands of households across Chicagoland, and a majority of the several hundred people who work there have signed authorization cards to join Local 705, according to union representatives.

“We are responsible for Amazon’s huge profits, and we will not rest until we get what we deserve,” said Dmytro Kovalenko, an Amazon driver at DIL7.

In June, workers there went on strike over unfair labor practices, alleging unsafe working conditions, low wages and a lack of guaranteed hours. Workers said they were often pressured not to report injuries while driving under unsafe conditions.

“Amazon is one of the biggest companies on Earth, but we are struggling to pay our bills,” said Riley Holzworth, one of the Skokie workers. “Other workers are seeing our example and joining our movement, because we are only going to get the treatment we deserve if we fight for it.”

Amazon company officials have consistently refused to recognize the Teamsters, arguing that delivery drivers are not direct employees but instead work for third-party contractors hired by the company, calling them Delivery Service Partners, or DSPs.

The Teamsters, however, pointed out that Amazon company officials have total control over drivers’ wages, schedules and working conditions, making the company the true employer.

“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," said Gabriel Irizarry, a driver at DIL7. "We can’t even afford to pay our bills."

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The Skokie strike is part of a broader organizing campaign led by the Teamsters, which represents workers at 10 Amazon facilities across the country, according to union officials, who have not said how many workers are taking part in the strike.

Six other delivery facilities besides Skokie are participating in the strike, including three in Southern California, one in New York City and one in Atlanta.

While Amazon maintains that the strikes will not disrupt operations, the company has faced growing criticism and scrutiny.

In August, a regional director of the National Labor Relations Board agreed with workers in Palmdale, California, finding that Amazon is indeed a joint employer of DSP drivers and declaring that it was legally required to bargain with their Teamster representatives.

The board found that Amazon had engaged in various unfair labor practices, including making unlawful threats and illegally refusing to bargain with the union when it terminated a contract with a DSP when its drivers sought to organize.

“The NLRB confirmed what every Amazon driver already knew: the DSP system is a sham, and Amazon is our true employer," Deibi Reyes, a driver working for Amazon in Skokie, said after the ruling, expressing optimism that labor organizing will change the company's practices. "It is time for Amazon to take responsibility for the low pay and unsafe working conditions drivers face."

Amazon officials issued a statement indicating that company officials rejected the NLRB determination that found delivery drivers working for its DSP subcontractors still count as its employees.

"For more than a year now, the Teamsters have continued to intentionally mislead the public - claiming that they represent 'thousands of Amazon employees and drivers'. They don't, and this is another attempt to push a false narrative," company representatives said, ignoring the federal labor board's ruling.

Teamsters officials claim that 7,000 Amazon workers have signed union cards, though that amounts to less than 1 percent of all its workers.

"The truth is that the Teamsters have actively threatened, intimidated, and attempted to coerce Amazon employees and third-party drivers to join them, which is illegal and is the subject of multiple pending unfair labor practice charges against the union," according to the statement from Amazon's public relations staff.

But in fact, the NLRB found it was Amazon that "unlawfully failed and refused to bargain with the union" and that officials at the company made unlawful threats to members of the union.

The Teamsters accuse Amazon of retaliating against organizing efforts, including allegations of contract terminations, intimidation and surveillance.

In July, members of Illinois’ congressional delegation sent a letter to Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, calling on the company to cease its anti-union tactics.

O'Brien described the way Amazon treats its works as un-American.

“Amazon’s so-called ‘leaders’ should treat their workers fairly — they just want to put food on the table for their families," the union president said. "Instead, Amazon executives risk ruining the holidays for their customers because of their addiction to putting profits over people.”

O'Brien made history earlier this year in Milwaukee when he became the first Teamsters leader to speak at a Republican National Convention. He reportedly requested to speak at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, but never heard back.

Read more: Amazon Drivers Strike Over Labor Violations At Skokie Station