The International Brotherhood of Teamsters is a union representing 1.4 million delivery workers and is now focusing its efforts on Amazon.
It will vote on Thursday whether to make organizing Amazon workers their main priority. Teamsters allege that the second-largest private employer in the country exploits its employees by offering little job security, low wages and pushing them to work fast.
Representatives from 500 Teamsters local unions will vote on Thursday to approve the resolution. “Amazon is the clearest example of America’s failure to the working class,” they said.
The resolution is expectedly to be approved. It would allow the Teamsters “fully fund” and support efforts to unionize Amazon employees and to create a division that will aid them and “protect our industries from the existential danger that is Amazon.” However, it declined to disclose how much money it would spend.
Amazon unionization is unlikely to succeed. In 26 years of the company’s history, none have been successful. This includes the recent unionization attempt at Amazon’s Alabama warehouse. Workers overwhelmingly opposed joining a union.
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The Teamsters stated that it would try a different strategy. In Salon, Randy Korgan, the Teamsters’ National Direct for Amazon, stated that unionizing only one facility is not an effective strategy because companies such as Amazon have the legal and financial resources to stop those efforts from the inside. Korgan stated that organizing Amazon workers would require “shop floor militancy,” which is strikes in warehouses or on streets.
Amazon did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday.