Labor News & Commentary September 17, 2024 Amazon drivers join the Teamsters, UAW files unfair labor charges link fixed

https://onlabor.org/september-17-2024/

By Sunah Chang is a student at Harvard Law School.

In today’s news and commentary: Amazon drivers join the Teamsters, UAW files unfair labor charges against Stellantis, and Boeing cuts down on spending in response to the strike.

Yesterday, the Teamsters announced that Amazon delivery drivers working out of a facility in Queens, New York would be joining the union. A majority of the drivers signed authorization cards to join the union, and the workers approached Amazon to request that the company recognize and negotiate with the union.

Many drivers have joined the union in the hopes of achieving higher wages, more consistent schedules, and improved maintenance of delivery trucks. The drivers, who are nominally employed by outside contractors, are part of Amazon’s delivery service partners (DSPs) program. Their unionization efforts come after two determinations by the NLRB finding that Amazon should be deemed a joint employer of workers at DSPs. Sean O’Brien, the president of the Teamsters, has expressed that “The NLRB made clear that Amazon has a legal obligation to bargain with its drivers and meet them at the negotiating table to improve wages, working conditions, safety standards, and everything in between.”

Also yesterday, the United Auto Workers union announced that it had filed unfair labor practice charges against Stellantis for violating some of the terms of the labor contract reached last fall. The UAW is accusing Stellantis of refusing to disclose information about its plans on product and investment commitments made in the 2023 contract. More specifically, the union has publicly accused Stellantis of trying to move its production of the Dodge Durango out of the U.S. in violation of the contract.

FULL story at link above.