News publications around the world covered important news with Local implications — the Teamsters union has announced a nationally coordinated program to help Amazon workers build the power needed to raise standards at work. The Amazon project is headed by Local 1932 Secretary-Treasurer Randy Korgan and gained nearly unanimous support from 1500 member delegates at last week’s Teamsters Union 30th Annual International Convention.
With 1.4 million members, the Teamsters will “fully fund and supply all resources necessary” to address “Amazon’s exploitation of its employees, contractors and employees of contractors,” the resolution stated.
The union last year appointed Randy Korgan, secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 1932 in San Bernardino, to a position as national director for Amazon, and said it would create an Amazon division dedicated to the campaign.
The new effort is aimed not just at growing the ranks of organized labor but also at protecting wages, benefits and workplace standards in Teamster-represented companies such as UPS, which are under pressure to replicate Amazon’s relentless push for speed and productivity.
The union already has begun to engage community groups, including in the Inland Empire, where Amazon, with 14 vast warehouses, is the region’s largest employer. In San Bernardino, Korgan’s local joined a
coalition of environmental justice groups in an effort to force Amazon to slash truck pollution and raise wages at a new $200-million air cargo facility.
Amazon workers “face dehumanizing, unsafe and low-pay jobs, with high turnover and no voice at work,” Korgan said. “With today’s resolution we are activating the full force of our union to support them.”
Amazon is the region’s largest private employer! Help raise standards for this crucial segment of our local tax base, and the livelihoods of our friends, family, and neighbors, by organizing with your union! Connect with Martha Romero at
mromero@teamsters1932.org to attend the next Amazon volunteer organizers training.
