Amazon Teamsters rally in NYC after more than 100 unionized drivers fired
New York, New York - Amazon Teamsters rallied at the DBK4 facility in Queens on Monday after the company fired over 100 of its unionized drivers.
"When normal people break the law, they go to jail. When Amazon executives do it, they get rewarded," Randy Korgan, director of the Teamsters Amazon Division, said in a statement.
"Amazon's crime spree has gone on long enough. The Teamsters are fully prepared to put these crooks in their place if they don't reinstate our brothers and sisters at DBK4."
Amazon has claimed it did not fire the drivers but rather cut contracts with the Delivery Service Provider (DSP) Cornucopia – a subcontractor which it says is the workers' real employer.
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruled in 2024 that Amazon is a joint employer for its DSP drivers and that it has a legal obligation to recognize and bargain with the Teamsters.
Drivers and warehouse workers at DBK4 joined the Teamsters union in September of last year. In December, Amazon Teamsters in nine cities participated in strikes demanding that the company negotiate a fair contract with workers.
Amazon has accused the Teamsters of lying in their bid for recognition and greater worker protections.
"These claims are false and this is just another example of the Teamsters deliberately spreading misinformation to advance their own agenda. The truth is that no Amazon employees or delivery partners have ever chosen the Teamsters as their representative in an NLRB election, and the NLRB has never directed Amazon to bargain with the Teamsters," company spokesperson Eileen Hards said in a statement.
Latrice Shadae Johnson, an Amazon Teamster at DBK4, said, "Amazon would be nothing without its workers. We're the ones who power their profits. We're the ones who put our health and safety on the line every single day. We're the ones who made them a $2 trillion corporation."
"If Amazon thinks we're going to take this lying down, they have another thing coming. Our solidarity is only growing stronger. And know this: Amazon Teamsters will come out on top."
Cover photo: Screenshot/X/@Teamsters