NLRB issues complaint against Amazon for refusing to negotiate with Teamsters
St. Paul, MN – On Monday, April 21, the National Labor Relations Board filed a complaint and notice of hearing, accusing Amazon of illegally refusing to negotiate with warehouse workers out of the San Francisco DCK6 delivery station.
The decision comes six months after the Teamsters union informed Amazon that a majority of the workers at DCK6 had signed cards in October 2024 in support of forming a union with the Teamsters. Around the same time, warehouse workers and drivers also signed cards to unionize at Amazon facilities in Chicago, New York, southern California and Atlanta.
Once the workers demand recognition, Amazon has two weeks to respond with the option to voluntarily recognize the union or challenge it and call for an election through the NLRB election process. Amazon ignored the demand for union recognition at all the facilities, and did not respond to the request for recognition or by challenging the majority and seeking a union election.
The organizing effort by the Teamsters at Amazon includes more than 10,000 workers across their supply chain. The DCK6 demand for recognition is one of several across the country in which, in each case, Amazon has refused to respond to.
At each facility where workers unionized and Amazon did not respond, the Teamsters filed an unfair labor practice (ULP) charge against the company for refusing to fulfill its legal obligation to bargain. Still having heard no response by the end of last year, workers across the country led a nationwide ULP strike the week before Christmas to protest Amazon’s illegal union busting tactics.
The DCK6 complaint is the first one in which a complaint was issued by the NLRB, the federal agency that legally certifies unions, for any of the facilities organized in 2024. This first complaint and hearing order is likely to give a framework for similar complaints for Teamsters at other Amazon locations. The hearing for the complaint will take place on August 5.
Amazon Teamsters who organized in 2024 are seeking a national contract that includes better pay, safer working conditions and job security.