Amazon drivers from Calif. picket at Norwood facility

Striking workers have protested in several states

A labor battle by unionized workers who deliver packages for Amazon in California landed in Massachusetts Saturday morning as some of the employees and their supporters picketed outside a Norwood warehouse run by the e-commerce giant.

The striking workers, 84 delivery drivers and dispatchers from Palmdale, Calif., who joined the International Brotherhood of Teamsters in April, have accused Amazon of engaging in unfair labor practices. The workers walked off the job last month in what the Teamsters say is the first strike by Amazon drivers in the US.

In the past two weeks, the workers have formed picket lines outside Amazon warehouses at various locations in California as well as in New Jersey and Connecticut. They complain about working in tripledigit heat in vehicles without air conditioning or operable windows, being attacked by dogs, and inadequate wages.

“This fight is for every delivery driver,” said Cecilia Porter, 33, a striking driver from Palmdale, who picketed in Norwood Saturday.

Porter and Brandi Diaz, 36, another striking driver from Palmdale, said they were joined on the picket line by other Teamsters and unionized workers. Diaz estimated about 175 people picketed from 4 a.m to 8 a.m. Saturday. Amazon said the demonstration lasted about three hours.

“We’re going to take it wherever we need to go,” Diaz said in a phone interview Saturday afternoon.

In a statement, Mary Kate Paradis, an Amazon spokesperson, said the demonstration was “initiated and attended by mostly outside organizers” and “had no impact on our operations or ability to deliver for customers.”

The Teamsters, led by Medford native Sean O’Brien, have signaled that they want to unionize workers at Amazon, which has thwarted labor organizing efforts in Alabama and at a warehouse near Albany, N.Y. Workers at an Amazon warehouse in Staten Island unionized last year, but have yet to get a contract.

In an interview with the Globe last month, O’Brien said he hopes the Teamsters’ current contract negotiations with UPS will help the union recruit new members from Amazon’s workforce. UPS workers represented by the Teamsters have voted to strike if they don’t reach an agreement for a new contract before the current deal expires on July 31.

“If we’re going to be successful in organizing Amazon,” O’Brien told the Globe, “we need the best contract in the industry [at UPS].”

The labor unrest at Amazon’s warehouse in Palmdale is entangled with the company’s “Delivery Service Partner” program, according to an unfair labor practice charge filed in May with the National Labor Relations Board on behalf of the unionized workers.

In the filing, lawyers for the workers said Amazon controls virtually every aspect of operations by businesses who become delivery service partners and deliver packages on Amazon’s behalf. This includes delivery routes, delivery targets and goals, and “certain minimum terms and conditions of employment” for workers who have been hired by businesses with agreements to deliver for Amazon, the lawyers wrote.

In this case, the workers negotiated a contract with an Amazon delivery service partner known as Battle Tested Strategies, but Amazon has refused to recognize the union, sign the collective bargaining agreement, or negotiate with the employees, the filing said.

“It became clear to the Teamsters that Amazon is the actual employer here — as a single and/or joint employer with” Battle Tested Strategies, lawyers for the workers wrote.

Johnathon Ervin, the founder of Battle Tested Strategies, said in an interview that he supports the workers and hopes Amazon will bargain with them and address their concerns.

He said he doesn’t have control over aspects of the operation like setting drivers’ hours, the number of packages they deliver, or the vehicles they operate. Ervin said he doesn’t think Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is aware of what workers endure while delivering packages for the company.

“I’ve always been taught that if you take care of the people, the mission will take care of itself,” said Ervin, who is also a chief master sergeant for the US Air Force Reserve. “Jeff needs to take care of his people.”

Amazon said it has terminated its contract with Battle Tested Strategies.

In her statement, Paradis accused the Teamsters of spreading “misinformation regarding a company that no longer delivers for Amazon.”

The Teamsters said that under the contract negotiated with Battle Tested Strategies, hourly wages would increase from $19.75 to $30.

Diaz said she is a single mother of three children who struggles to pay for her groceries and other bills.

“I am one of those workers who lives paycheck to paycheck,” she said. “It’s not easy.”