Teamsters join Anti-Amazon HQ2 effort, demand better treatment of New York workers

When Amazon announced it would build its second headquarters in Long Island City, activists immediately spoke out against the deal. Now, the New York City Teamsters union has joined an effort to oppose Amazon HQ2 in Queens.

Teamsters joined a coalition created by the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) against HQ2 this week. Both unions sent joint letters to city and state officials announcing their partnership against Amazon HQ2 and requesting the tech giant change “the way it operates in New York.”

Amazon has historically been anti-union, though it’s workers, especially those at Amazon warehouses, have repeatedly attempted to organize. Labor issues plague the company, with employees voicing concerns about safety, inadequate pay, unreasonable forced overtime and more. Multiple workers have died at Amazon facilities.

“Jeff Bezos needs to come to the Staten Island fulfillment center to speak with his associates and to see how we are being treated first hand,” said Rashad Long, a worker there, in a statement. “We are not robots. We are human beings. We cannot come into work after only 4 hours of sleep and be expected to be fully energized and ready to work. ... I feel like all the company cares about is getting their products out to the customers as quickly as possible, no matter what that means for us workers in the end.”

Read more: https://www.metro.us/news/local-news/new-york/teamsters-join-anti-amazon-hq2-effort