MISSOULA — Members of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters in Missoula are picketing Thursday at the Amazon warehouse in Missoula.
The workers are Missoula union members joining the national strike in solidarity with local Amazon employees and drivers who work for third parties who are considering signing union cards, a Teamsters spokesperson said.
The Teamsters allege Amazon has refused to bargain.
A news release from the Teamsters said the strike was the largest one against Amazon in U.S. history.
Union spokesperson Derek Hitt of Missoula declined to disclose the number of Amazon workers who are considering signing union cards because he said they fear retaliation.
A national spokesperson said Amazon’s executives can do more for workers in a statement.
“If your package is delayed during the holidays, you can blame Amazon’s insatiable greed. We gave Amazon a clear deadline to come to the table and do right by our members. They ignored it,” said Teamsters General President Sean O’Brien in a statement. “These greedy executives had every chance to show decency and respect for the people who make their obscene profits possible. Instead, they’ve pushed workers to the limit, and now they’re paying the price. This strike is on them.”
In an email, an Amazon spokesperson for the Missoula facility said he had fast-tracked a request for comment from the Daily Montanan.
Although some of the workers on strike across the country are not direct Amazon employees, but work for third parties, the Teamsters have argued Amazon controls the purse strings and working conditions, the Daily Montanan reports.
The union members, among 10,000 Amazon workers across the country, are fighting for higher wages, better benefits and safer conditions, according to the news release. It said workers are also joining the picket line in New York, Georgia, California, and Illinois.
The warehouse in Missoula held a ribbon cutting in March 2024.
At the time, an Amazon spokesperson told the Daily Montanan that roughly 100 Amazon associates work at the warehouse, and approximately 80 drivers work for an independent delivery company.
The spokesperson said wages for Amazon workers started at $17 an hour and went as high as $19.40. The Missoulian said delivery drivers earned $21 to $24 an hour.
The strike Thursday started during one of the busiest times of the year for deliveries, with an estimated 10,000 packages a day delivered out of the Missoula warehouse during “peak holiday season,” according to an earlier estimate from Amazon.
Amazon announced it was building the $8.1 million facility in Missoula in December 2022.
The company said the 72,000 square foot delivery station, part of the “last mile” stage of shipping, would receive orders from larger Amazon facilities across the U.S. and dispatch delivery vans to bring those orders to customers’ front doors.
Editor’s note: This story will be updated. It has been corrected to note the picketing union members are Teamsters acting in solidarity with Amazon workers across the country, and local workers are considering signing cards.
Daily Montanan is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Daily Montanan maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Darrell Ehrlick for questions: info@dailymontanan.com.
