BY SARAH O’CONNELL
Gathering at the edge of the Amazon property line in Maspeth, Queens, Teamsters and community members rallied on September 8th to demand justice after 105 unionized drivers were fired. The union is also pressuring Amazon to negotiate a contract that would include higher wages and workplace safety protections.
“At night, we came to drop off the truck, and they told us, do not come. No reason for why Amazon cut the contract. No nothing. Just go home,” said Kalid, who declined to give his last name, a terminated driver who had been with Amazon since December. “They do not even wish us luck.”
Amazon maintains that because the drivers had been subcontracted under the Delivery Service Provider (DSP) Cornucopia, they were not officially employed by Amazon and therefore were not fired by the megacorporation when the contract was abruptly cut – a “scam” tactic that the Teamsters say Amazon employs to deny culpability for the firings.
In 2024, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruled that Amazon is a joint employer of DSP drivers, and has a legal obligation to recognize and bargain with the union. An Amazon spokesperson refuted the claims in a statement to Mashable, saying that the Teamsters were using misinformation to spread their agenda and that the NLRB had never told them they must bargain with the union. In an attempt to block a case alleging the company unfairly retaliated against workers who voted to unionize, Amazon has claimed that NLRB proceedings deny the company a trial by jury, violating its Fifth Amendment rights to due process. Amazon asked for a temporary restraining order until its claims could be reviewed, which was denied.
After President Trump took office in January 2025, he fired NLRB Board Chair Gwynne Wilcox, leaving the board without the three-member quorum needed to make rulings on cases regarding unlawful labor practices or union representation. “Unless an employer is willing to go along with what the board says, the employer can stall a case indefinitely right now,” Lauren McFerran, who served as chair of the board during the Biden administration, told The Guardian.
In 2024, workers at the Maspeth facility voted to join the Teamsters union, which represents almost 10,000 Amazon employees across the country. The union gave Amazon a deadline of December 15, 2024, to begin the collective bargaining process nationwide. Amazon failed to do so, triggering strikes at multiple facilities across the country, including Maspeth. Amazon still refuses to come to the bargaining table, instead using scare tactics and misinformation to dissuade workers from joining the union, according to warehouse employee Tristan Martinez.
“For seven years, all I’ve seen is Amazon care less and less and get away with more, and more and more. There is no reason somebody working 40 hours a week should not be able to make their rent. There is no reason why 105 people should be fired, and then people should say, oh, you don’t want to work,” said Martinez. He added that while the terminated drivers would be happy to have their jobs back, they would “not work for scraps. We will not work for the bare minimum. We will not work for a company that will step right over us if we fall.”
While passing drivers honked in solidarity, several politicians stood to support the Teamsters and their struggle for labor rights amidst the Trump administration’s continued attacks on workers. We must “remind the corporations and the billionaires that they did not get there alone. That they became rich off the blood, sweat, and tears of your neighbors,” said Brooklyn Assemblymember Marcela Mitaynes. “And while the 1% feels emboldened with this administration, we’re here to say we are standing with our union brothers and sisters and remind you that we are the 99%.” Other politicians present included Queens Assemblymember Jessica González-Rojas and City Council Members Sandy Nurse and Amanda Farías.
The Teamsters’ demands have yet to be recognized. But union leaders assured members that the fight was not over, chanting, “Because when we fight – WE WIN!”