SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
More than 60 Amazon warehouse workers in New York and Maryland staged a walkout during their overnight shift on March 16, 2022, demanding fairer wages. (Photo: Twitter/@NYCAmazonians)
Sanders Vows 'Strong Solidarity' for Multi-State Amazon Worker Walkout
"If Jeff Bezos can afford a $500 million yacht, a $23 million mansion with 25 bathrooms, and a rocket ship to blast a comedian to outer space, you know what?" said the U.S. senator. "Amazon can afford to give its employees a $3 raise."
Mar 16, 2022
Sen. Bernie Sanders was among the workers' rights advocates applauding more than 60 Amazon warehouse employees Wednesday as they staged the company's first multi-state walkout to demand a reinstatement of breaks and fairer pay.
Noting that founder and executive chairman owns a $500 million yacht, a $23 million mansion, and is currently charging celebrities and other wealthy customers tens of millions of dollars for rides on his space company's suborbital flights, Sanders wrote that "Amazon can afford to give its employees a $3 raise."
"I stand in strong solidarity with the Amazon workers' walkout," the Vermont independent senator said.
\u201cIf Jeff Bezos can afford a $500 million yacht, a $23 million mansion with 25 bathrooms and a rocket ship to blast a comedian to outer space, you know what? Amazon can afford to give its employees a $3 raise. I stand in strong solidarity with the Amazon workers walkout.\u201d— Bernie Sanders (@Bernie Sanders) 1647455490
The strike was organized by workers on the night shifts at three delivery stations, where employees load products onto delivery vans and sometimes work 11-hour shifts, in Queens, New York and Upper Marlboro, Maryland. The workers are paid about $15.75 to $17.25 per hour and last year had their breaks reduced from 20 minutes to 15 minutes.
With the majority of workers on the overnight shift taking part in the action, said HuffPost labor reporter Dave Jamieson, the strike was "enough to cause problems" at DMD9, the warehouse in Maryland.
\u201cThis was an overnight shift and they walked out at \u201clunch\u201d (just before dawn). This Amazon facility gets packages ready to go out on trucks for delivery. Workers said the walkout left a lot of managers scrambling to do their jobs in their place. \u201cThey\u2019re freaking out,\u201d one said.\u201d— Dave Jamieson (@Dave Jamieson) 1647433595
In Queens, workers at ZYO1 in Long Island City and DBK1 in Woodside convened at 4:30 a.m. after shutting down the warehouses' conveyor belts.
The employees chanted, "Better pay, longer breaks!" and "Amazonians United will never be defeated!"
\u201cMore than 60 Amazon workers at 3 warehouses staged a walkout today demanding $3 raises and a return to 20-minute breaks.\nhttps://t.co/TnED8ozrwt\u201d— More Perfect Union (@More Perfect Union) 1647456727
The employees at the three warehouses "showed what solidarity looks like," said Amazonians United, a worker-led group which has fought for higher wages at several warehouses across the country.
The strike comes as Amazon workers at a much larger warehouse facility in Bessemer, Alabama are voting on whether to join the Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union in an election that ends March 25. Union supporters lost an earlier election held last year, but the National Labor Relations Board ordered a new vote after the union alleged illegal surveillance and intimidation of workers by Amazon.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Sen. Bernie Sanders was among the workers' rights advocates applauding more than 60 Amazon warehouse employees Wednesday as they staged the company's first multi-state walkout to demand a reinstatement of breaks and fairer pay.
Noting that founder and executive chairman owns a $500 million yacht, a $23 million mansion, and is currently charging celebrities and other wealthy customers tens of millions of dollars for rides on his space company's suborbital flights, Sanders wrote that "Amazon can afford to give its employees a $3 raise."
"I stand in strong solidarity with the Amazon workers' walkout," the Vermont independent senator said.
\u201cIf Jeff Bezos can afford a $500 million yacht, a $23 million mansion with 25 bathrooms and a rocket ship to blast a comedian to outer space, you know what? Amazon can afford to give its employees a $3 raise. I stand in strong solidarity with the Amazon workers walkout.\u201d— Bernie Sanders (@Bernie Sanders) 1647455490
The strike was organized by workers on the night shifts at three delivery stations, where employees load products onto delivery vans and sometimes work 11-hour shifts, in Queens, New York and Upper Marlboro, Maryland. The workers are paid about $15.75 to $17.25 per hour and last year had their breaks reduced from 20 minutes to 15 minutes.
With the majority of workers on the overnight shift taking part in the action, said HuffPost labor reporter Dave Jamieson, the strike was "enough to cause problems" at DMD9, the warehouse in Maryland.
\u201cThis was an overnight shift and they walked out at \u201clunch\u201d (just before dawn). This Amazon facility gets packages ready to go out on trucks for delivery. Workers said the walkout left a lot of managers scrambling to do their jobs in their place. \u201cThey\u2019re freaking out,\u201d one said.\u201d— Dave Jamieson (@Dave Jamieson) 1647433595
In Queens, workers at ZYO1 in Long Island City and DBK1 in Woodside convened at 4:30 a.m. after shutting down the warehouses' conveyor belts.
The employees chanted, "Better pay, longer breaks!" and "Amazonians United will never be defeated!"
\u201cMore than 60 Amazon workers at 3 warehouses staged a walkout today demanding $3 raises and a return to 20-minute breaks.\nhttps://t.co/TnED8ozrwt\u201d— More Perfect Union (@More Perfect Union) 1647456727
The employees at the three warehouses "showed what solidarity looks like," said Amazonians United, a worker-led group which has fought for higher wages at several warehouses across the country.
The strike comes as Amazon workers at a much larger warehouse facility in Bessemer, Alabama are voting on whether to join the Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union in an election that ends March 25. Union supporters lost an earlier election held last year, but the National Labor Relations Board ordered a new vote after the union alleged illegal surveillance and intimidation of workers by Amazon.
Sen. Bernie Sanders was among the workers' rights advocates applauding more than 60 Amazon warehouse employees Wednesday as they staged the company's first multi-state walkout to demand a reinstatement of breaks and fairer pay.
Noting that founder and executive chairman owns a $500 million yacht, a $23 million mansion, and is currently charging celebrities and other wealthy customers tens of millions of dollars for rides on his space company's suborbital flights, Sanders wrote that "Amazon can afford to give its employees a $3 raise."
"I stand in strong solidarity with the Amazon workers' walkout," the Vermont independent senator said.
\u201cIf Jeff Bezos can afford a $500 million yacht, a $23 million mansion with 25 bathrooms and a rocket ship to blast a comedian to outer space, you know what? Amazon can afford to give its employees a $3 raise. I stand in strong solidarity with the Amazon workers walkout.\u201d— Bernie Sanders (@Bernie Sanders) 1647455490
The strike was organized by workers on the night shifts at three delivery stations, where employees load products onto delivery vans and sometimes work 11-hour shifts, in Queens, New York and Upper Marlboro, Maryland. The workers are paid about $15.75 to $17.25 per hour and last year had their breaks reduced from 20 minutes to 15 minutes.
With the majority of workers on the overnight shift taking part in the action, said HuffPost labor reporter Dave Jamieson, the strike was "enough to cause problems" at DMD9, the warehouse in Maryland.
\u201cThis was an overnight shift and they walked out at \u201clunch\u201d (just before dawn). This Amazon facility gets packages ready to go out on trucks for delivery. Workers said the walkout left a lot of managers scrambling to do their jobs in their place. \u201cThey\u2019re freaking out,\u201d one said.\u201d— Dave Jamieson (@Dave Jamieson) 1647433595
In Queens, workers at ZYO1 in Long Island City and DBK1 in Woodside convened at 4:30 a.m. after shutting down the warehouses' conveyor belts.
The employees chanted, "Better pay, longer breaks!" and "Amazonians United will never be defeated!"
\u201cMore than 60 Amazon workers at 3 warehouses staged a walkout today demanding $3 raises and a return to 20-minute breaks.\nhttps://t.co/TnED8ozrwt\u201d— More Perfect Union (@More Perfect Union) 1647456727
The employees at the three warehouses "showed what solidarity looks like," said Amazonians United, a worker-led group which has fought for higher wages at several warehouses across the country.
The strike comes as Amazon workers at a much larger warehouse facility in Bessemer, Alabama are voting on whether to join the Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union in an election that ends March 25. Union supporters lost an earlier election held last year, but the National Labor Relations Board ordered a new vote after the union alleged illegal surveillance and intimidation of workers by Amazon.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.