Teamsters and Amazon Labor Union announce affiliation

The Amazon Labor Union and the Teamsters have signed an affiliation agreement.

“Today is an historical day for Labor in America as we now combine forces with one of the most powerful unions to take on Amazon together,” wrote Amazon Labor Union (ALU) President Chris Smalls on X (formerly Twitter). “We’re putting Amazon on notice that we are coming!”

Smalls and Teamsters President Sean O’Brien signed the agreement on June 3.

The affiliation agreement charters a new local known as Amazon Labor Union No. 1, International Brotherhood of Teamsters (ALU-IBT Local 1) for the five boroughs of New York City.

The ALU is the independent union that sent shock waves through the Labor Movement two years ago when it won a landmark election to organize 8,000 workers at Amazon fulfillment center JFK8 on Staten Island, N.Y.

The Teamsters announced the affiliation in a tweet, saying the agreement had been approved unanimously by its board.

Amazon workers at the air cargo hub KCVG in Northern Kentucky voted to affiliate with the Teamsters in April after the tug and ramp workers at a nearby DHL facility joined the Teamsters and won a lucrative first contract.

AMAZON DIVISION
Teamsters launched an Amazon Division last year to bring together various Amazon organizing efforts under one big tent.

“If we’re going to bring Amazon to the table, we need to build a national movement of Amazon workers who are strike-ready,” said Connor Spence, who’s running for president of the ALU and was one of the key organizers of the successful union drive at JFK8. “Trying to build that without some kind of institutional backing is a long shot.”

Amazon Teamsters have extended picket lines to other Amazon facilities after the Teamsters organized delivery drivers in Palmdale, Calif., last April. These 84 workers were nominally employed by an Amazon contractor, the Southern California company Battle-Tested Strategies—one of 2,500 “delivery service partners” that carry out package deliveries while Amazon retains full control.

Since then, more of the independent groups organizing at Amazon have worked with the Teamsters, hoping its backing can help them organize their own facilities.

(Information from Labor Notes.)