COMP News – Employees at three Amazon warehouses have coordinated an evening strike, demanding $3 per hour raises to combat rising inflation.

Workers at three Amazon warehouses in the New York City and Washington, D.C., metro areas walked off the night shift Wednesday in a coordinated effort to demand $3-an-hour raises and the reinstatement of 20-minute rest breaks.

 

Striking workers say their wages of roughly $15.75-17.25 an hour are not enough to survive with this year’s rapidly inflated prices on the cost of housing, food, and gas. Last year, Amazon announced it was trimming back rest breaks from 20 to 15 minutes, ending a COVID-era perk intended to give workers extra time to maintain social distancing and safety procedures.

This strike comes on the heels of complaints by many Amazon employees who began a petition with similar demands in December.

The multi-warehouse strike follows a petition drive in December organized by the same group of workers, known as Amazonians United, an independent worker-led group, which has a presence in at least nine Amazon warehouses nationally. The petition included a similar set of demands, and the strike on Wednesday, they say, is an escalation of the petition. 

Issues regarding pay and benefits have many Amazon employees contemplating unionization. While there are currently no Amazon unions, many suspect that this may not be the case for long, as unionization voting is set to begin in numerous warehouses across the country in the coming months.

The strike coincides with a surge in organizing at Amazon warehouses around the country. In Bessemer, Alabama, Amazon warehouse workers at BHM1 are currently voting in a mail-in ballot re-election on whether to unionize. In Staten Island, Amazon warehouse workers at JFK8, the city’s largest warehouse, will vote in person on whether to unionize later this month. 

To read more about the Amazon workers coordinating strikes, click here.

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