Josh Crowell is a worker at Amazon Air Hub KCVG in Northern Kentucky, and a member of Socialist Alternative.
In the week leading up to the holidays, Amazon workers across the country withheld their labor in the largest national strike against Amazon in history. Workers at nine different facilities were on strike demanding the company recognize the Teamsters as our union and bargain a contract. This capped off an eventful year of Amazon worker organizing, which saw both my coworkers at KCVG and the union at JFK8 in Staten Island, two of the largest Amazon union campaigns, affiliate with the Teamsters. I was able to join my JFK8 siblings on the picket line for the first day they were on strike, giving support and solidarity to my coworkers across the country and showing Amazon this is a national fight for what we deserve!
Back in 2022, JFK8 workers were the first to win a union election at Amazon, with an approach uncommon in the labor movement today: a class struggle campaign based on concrete, bold demands, driven entirely by workers from the shop. The win was heard around the world, inspiring other Amazon workers to fight for more. In 2023, my coworkers and I at KCVG followed in their footsteps as an independent Amazon Labor Union campaign. In 2024, after we affiliated with the Teamsters, they followed us into the Teamsters, becoming ALU-IBT Local 1. JFK8 workers’ demand for $30 an hour starting pay has resonated across the country and been taken up at several facilities, including KCVG. Despite their impact, the union at JFK8 has been unrecognized by Amazon to this day. Tenaciously, the workers are determined to out-organize every setback, and this strike was a key step in this strategy.
While on the JFK8 picket line I had the chance to speak with many rank and file coworkers. Key to building a strong strike turnout was the profile of demands the union would fight for at the bargaining table, notably: $30 an hour starting pay, an end to 3 year wage caps and 180 hours of paid time off. For many workers this was their first time on strike and learning how to picket, lead chants and run a strike were all experiences gained by the worker leaders on the line. Leading up to the strike, the local trained up a whole layer of new shop stewards, and it really showed, especially during the 6AM shift change when a large lively picket was established and workers energetically flyered their coworkers, encouraging them to join the line. Justin Saccardo, a newer shop steward, gave insight on what it took: “Leading up there was a lot of sacrifices from a lot of people, a lot of sleepless nights, a lot of lunch breaks given up to organize. Everyone was at 110%, between MET (mandatory overtime) and organizing. A lot of new organizers stepped up to the plate and really took the initiative.”
The consolidation of Amazon worker organizing campaigns under the Teamsters has been an important development for this movement, laying the foundation for this peak season’s coordinated strike action and more to come. The backing of the Teamsters gives more power to every Amazon worker because of the established strength of their 1.3 million members, primarily in the logistics sector, and the industrial leverage they hold to shut down a substantial portion of that entire industry. UPS and DHL Teamsters will have to stand with their brothers and sisters at Amazon in order to raise the working standards for all logistics workers. Strong campaigns continue to grow outside of the Teamsters too, like CAUSE in North Carolina, which just filed for election (days into this strike)! Our movement must strive for increased coordination across different unions as we move forward.
Ultimately, winning at Amazon, a $2 trillion(!!) company, will require an all-out national fight. While this strike was not yet of sufficient scale to force Amazon to the table, it was a real step forward for the movement from where it was just a year or two ago. This type of nationwide coordinated action, facilitated by organizing in a large national union, can act as a springboard at hundreds of other Amazon shops with the confidence it provides those workers. In the future, as more facilities go on strike, it will be important to continue showing solidarity and send workers from across the country to support and learn from each other.
As put by Sultana Hossain, Recording Secretary for ALU-IBT Local 1, “At the heart of this effort is the need to build rank-and-file militancy, empowering workers at Amazon to lead their own fight for justice and ensuring the movement remains rooted in their voices and needs. A strong, militant rank-and-file movement will strengthen solidarity, prepare workers to confront corporate resistance with unity and determination, and generate the momentum needed to pressure Amazon to negotiate a fair contract. As one of the defining labor struggles of the 21st century, this fight has the potential to set a new standard for workers’ rights across industries.”
While these are just the first of many strikes that will be needed to win a strong first contract, Amazon Teamsters are positioning ourselves to grow a movement capable of bringing Amazon to the table, but the real test will be how we seize on the momentum in the new year. Bold, concrete demands with common elements to unite the movement will be crucial, as well as thoroughly democratic worker leadership to support the nearly one million Amazon workers who could be entering the organized labor movement.