Less than a week before Christmas, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters announced that workers will strike at various Amazon locations throughout the country starting Thursday at 6 a.m. The work stoppage is due to a union claim that Amazon has repeatedly rejected bargaining requests with 'thousands of Amazon workers who organized with the Teamsters,' read a press release. The Teamsters promoted the announcement of the strike as the 'largest strike against Amazon in American history.
' Approximately 10,000 workers are expected to participate in the work stoppage. It comes during the busiest shopping time of the year, when people buy gifts for the Christmas holiday—something that Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien noted. '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,' O’Brien said. 'These greedy executives had every chance to show decency and respect for the people who make their obscene profits possible. Instead, they’ve pushed workers to the limit, and now they’re paying the price. This strike is on them.' The strike affects only Amazon locations where workers have voted to unionize: Atlanta, Georgia; New York City, New York; San Francisco, California; Skokie, Illinois; and Southern California, according to the release. The union also announced it would hold picket lines at numerous Amazon fulfillment centers nationwide. 'What we’re doing is historic,’ said Leah Pensler, a warehouse worker in San Francisco. 'We are fighting against a vicious union-busting campaign, and we are going to win.’ Amazon’s wealth was mentioned in the union’s press release, and many soon-to-be striking workers slammed it, calling the company greedy, given its affluence