Airline used by Amazon wins order to end strike
A FEDERAL judge in the United States on Wednesday ordered striking airline cargo pilots who transport packages for Amazon and other customers to immediately resume work.
About 250 pilots for the carrier, ABX Air, went on strike on Tu e s d a y, a c c u s i n g t h e i r employer of forcing them to work an excessive number of flight assignments in violation of their contract.
The strike threatened to hold up shipments of Amazon orders, although the internet retailer said it had avoided delays so far.
In a hearing on Wednesday in Cincinnati, US District Court Judge Timothy Black granted ABX Air a temporary restraining order blocking the strike, according to representatives of the company and the pilots’ union.
The Airline Professionals Association, Teamsters Local 1224, the union representing the pilots, started the strike because of what it called significant understaffing at ABX Air, which has demanded that pilots fly “emergency” flights to meet the demands of its cargo customers, disrupting the pilots’ schedules.
The pilots were picketing outside ABX headquarters in Wilmington, Ohio, and Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, where DHL, one of ABX’s big customers, has its North American hub.
In a statement, the union said its pilots would return to work but called on ABX to address the staffing shortages that prompted the strike.
“ABX Air’s failure to address the staffing crisis hurts our families and compromises our ability to do our jobs and meet the needs of Amazon, DHL and other customers,” said Rick Ziebarth, an ABX pilot.
This year, Amazon and the Air Transport Services Group, the parent company of ABX, announced that Amazon was leasing 20 Boeing 767 freighter aircraft to ensure that the retailer had enough capacity to handle one and two-day deliveries. As part of their agreement, the carrier granted Amazon war- rants to buy nearly 20 percent of its stock over five years.
Amazon suggested that, so far, the strike had not affected its customers.
“We rebalanced capacity across our diverse network of carrier partners, and these adjustments ensure there are no disruptions through the busy holiday weekend,” Kelly Cheeseman, an Amazon spokeswoman, said.
Amazon has gone to great lengths to discourage employees in its warehouses from forming unions, arguing that unions would interfere with the company’s ability to innovate. But the strike by the pilots showed how some segments of its logistics network could still be affected by organised labour.