The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, a union that represents 1.4 million delivery workers, is setting its sights on Amazon.
On Thursday, it will vote on whether to make organizing Amazon workers its main priority. The Teamsters accuse the nation's second-largest private employer of exploiting employees by paying them low wages, pushing them to work at fast speeds and offering no job security.
鈥淭here is no clearer example of how America is failing the working class than Amazon,鈥 says the resolution that will be voted on by representatives from 500 Teamsters local unions Thursday.
The resolution is expected to be approved and would allow the Teamsters to 鈥渇ully fund and support鈥 efforts to unionize Amazon workers and create a division to aid them and 鈥減rotect the standards in our industries from the existential threat that is Amazon.鈥 It declined to say how much money it will spend on the efforts.
Any attempt to unionize Amazon is likely to be an uphill battle. None has been successful in the company's 26-year history, including the most recent one at an Alabama warehouse where workers overwhelmingly voted against joining a union.
But the Teamsters said it will try a different strategy. Randy Korgan, the Teamsters' National Director for Amazon, wrote in Salon earlier this month that unionizing one facility at a time doesn't work because companies like Amazon have the money and legal resources to squash those efforts from the inside. Instead, Korgan wrote that organizing Amazon workers will take 鈥渟hop-floor militancy,鈥 such as strikes in warehouses and in city streets.
Amazon didn't respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.
The online shopping behemoth had pushed hard against unionizing efforts at the warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama. Amazon argued that it paid workers at least $15 an hour and already offered the benefits unions want. It hung anti-union signs throughout the warehouse, including inside bathroom stalls, and held mandatory meetings to convince workers why the union is a bad idea, according to one worker who testified at a Senate hearing.
When the votes were counted in April, nearly 71% of the more than 2,500 valid votes counted rejected a union.
The organizing in Bessemer was led by the New York-based Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, which represents 100,000 workers at poultry plants; cereal and soda bottling facilities; and retailers such as Macy's and H&M.
The Teamsters is much larger. The union has been around since the early 1900s when goods were delivered by horse-drawn wagons. It now represents 1.4 million truckers, UPS employees and other types of workers, including nurses and warehouse mechanics.
鈥淭hey're a strong, successful union,鈥 said Alex Colvin, the dean of Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations, who added the Amazon workers reflect the type of members it already represents. 鈥淭hey're a formidable adversary for Amazon to face.鈥
The Teamsters is targeting workers in Amazon's fast-growing delivery network, such as drivers and warehouse workers who pack and ship orders. In the past couple of years, Seattle-based Amazon has been working to deliver most of its packages itself and rely less on UPS, the U.S. Postal Service and other carriers.
It has built several package-sorting hubs at airports, opened warehouses closer to where shoppers live and launched a program that lets contractors start businesses delivering packages in vans stamped with the Amazon logo. In January, it bought 11 jets that it plans to use to deliver orders to shoppers faster.
The Teamsters said in its resolution that Amazon's delivery network has become a dominate force in the logistics industry in a short amount of time and the way it treats workers could threaten the working standards it has set at UPS and at other parcel, freight and delivery companies.
A Canadian former Olympic snowboarder who is suspected of being the leader of a transnational drug trafficking group that operated in four countries is wanted for allegedly orchestrating the murder of an 'innocent' couple in Ontario in 2023, authorities say.
Trustees with an Ontario school board are responding to criticism over a $45,000 trip to Italy, where they purchased more than $100,000 worth of religious statues.
Shane Gross, a Canadian marine conservation photojournalist, has won the title of Wildlife Photographer of the Year.
Three tobacco giants are proposing to pay close to $25 billion to provinces and territories and more than $4 billion to some 100,000 Quebec smokers and their loved ones as part of a corporate restructuring process triggered by a long-running legal battle.
Federal cabinet ministers Filomena Tassi, Carla Qualtrough and Dan Vandal announced Thursday they will not run for re-election. Senior government sources tell 麻豆影视 at least one other, Marie-Claude Bibeau, doesn't plan to run again, setting the stage for Justin Trudeau to shuffle his cabinet in the coming weeks.
A handwritten book was seized from B.C. serial killer Robert Pickton's prison cell following his death earlier this year, raising hopes of uncovering new evidence in a series of unprosecuted murders.
The former members of English boy band One Direction reacted publicly to the sudden death of their bandmate, Liam Payne, for the first time on Thursday, saying in a joint statement that they're 'completely devastated.'
Israeli forces in Gaza killed top Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, a chief architect of last year's attack on Israel that sparked the war, the military said Thursday. Troops appeared to have run across him unknowingly in a battle, only to discover afterwards that a body in the rubble was Israel's most wanted man.
The U.S. Justice Department announced criminal charges Thursday against an Indian government employee in connection with a foiled plot to kill a Sikh separatist leader living in New York City.
A handwritten book was seized from B.C. serial killer Robert Pickton's prison cell following his death earlier this year, raising hopes of uncovering new evidence in a series of unprosecuted murders.
Three tobacco giants are proposing to pay close to $25 billion to provinces and territories and more than $4 billion to some 100,000 Quebec smokers and their loved ones as part of a corporate restructuring process triggered by a long-running legal battle.
B.C. NDP Leader David Eby slammed his billionaire constituent Chip Wilson 鈥 again 鈥 on the campaign trail, following the publication of an op-ed by the Lululemon founder.
A Canadian former Olympic snowboarder who is suspected of being the leader of a transnational drug trafficking group that operated in four countries is wanted for allegedly orchestrating the murder of an 'innocent' couple in Ontario in 2023, authorities say.
Three men convicted of helping lead and co-ordinate the border blockade at Coutts, Alta., in 2022 are to be sentenced next year.
Some doctors in Ottawa say the pile of paperwork they're doing every day has been steadily growing as more public service workers seek doctor's notes in order to receive accommodations to work from home.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un reminded his troops to treat South Korea as a hostile foreign enemy and insisted that the North wouldn鈥檛 hesitate to attack its rival if the South infringes upon its sovereignty, state media said Friday.
King Charles III and Queen Camilla arrived in Sydney for the first Australian visit by a reigning monarch in more than a decade, a trip that has rekindled debate about the nation's constitutional links to Britain.
A Texas appeals court lifted a judge's order that had delayed Thursday night's planned execution of a man who would become the first person in the U.S. put to death for a murder conviction tied to a diagnosis of shaken baby syndrome.
Yahya Sinwar masterminded an attack on Israel that shocked the world, unleashing a still-widening catastrophe with no end in sight.
The U.S. Justice Department announced criminal charges Thursday against an Indian government employee in connection with a foiled plot to kill a Sikh separatist leader living in New York City.
Florida voters and election supervisors in hurricane affected areas will have extra time and flexibility to ensure they still have the ability to vote in November elections.
Federal cabinet ministers Filomena Tassi, Carla Qualtrough and Dan Vandal announced Thursday they will not run for re-election. Senior government sources tell 麻豆影视 at least one other, Marie-Claude Bibeau, doesn't plan to run again, setting the stage for Justin Trudeau to shuffle his cabinet in the coming weeks.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says it's very disturbing that Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre won't get the top-level security clearance needed to view classified documents on foreign interference.
The representative plaintiffs in a class-action lawsuit against Canada are urging First Nations chiefs to accept a landmark $47.8-billion child welfare reform deal.
Patients who are older, don鈥檛 speak English, and don鈥檛 have a high school education are more likely to experience harm during a hospital stay in Canada, according to new research.
Health Canada released an advisory Wednesday warning that baby walkers available online may pose a risk of injury and reminding consumers the items are already banned in Canada.
Coca-Cola has recalled more than 13,000 cases of Minute Maid Zero Sugar Lemonade because the mislabelled cartons actually contained the full-sugar version of the drink, according to a report from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Meta has launched a new campaign to protect teens and children from social media sextortion scams. It鈥檚 designed to help teenagers and their parents easily spot online scammers, who trick young people into sending intimate photos and use financial blackmail, threatening exposure.
Just weeks before the U.S. presidential election, TikTok approved advertisements that contained election disinformation even though it has a ban on political ads, according to a report published Thursday by the nonprofit Global Witness.
At the heart of the ancient city of Petra, Jordan, carved into pink sandstone cliffs, lies an elaborate monument known as the Khaznah, or the Treasury. And buried beneath that edifice, archeologists recently discovered, is a tomb with at least 12 human skeletons and artifacts that are estimated to be at least 2,000 years old.
Mitzi Gaynor, the effervescent dancer and actor who starred as Nellie Forbush in the 1958 film of 'South Pacific' and appeared in other musicals with Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly, has died. She was 93.
The former members of English boy band One Direction reacted publicly to the sudden death of their bandmate, Liam Payne, for the first time on Thursday, saying in a joint statement that they're 'completely devastated.'
Shane Gross, a Canadian marine conservation photojournalist, has won the title of Wildlife Photographer of the Year.
Meta says it has laid off some employees, including staff at WhatsApp And Instagram, to realign its resources with its 鈥渟trategic goals.鈥
Netflix on Thursday reported that its subscriber growth slowed dramatically during the summer, a sign the huge gains from the video-streaming service鈥檚 crackdown on freeloading viewers is tapering off.
Dozens of people rallied outside the Michigan headquarters of WK Kellogg Co. Tuesday, demanding that the company remove artificial dyes from its breakfast cereals in the U.S.
A British travel documentarian's YouTube video announcing his move to Winnipeg, Man. has gone viral, with Manitobans praising the transplant's kind words about his new Prairie home.
A Nova Scotia man crossing Canada on foot is passing through southwestern Ontario. Trevor Redmond is perhaps better known as the 鈥楩ellow in Yellow.鈥
According to Google search data, the top Halloween costumes trending in Canada include everything from Taylor Swift for kids to the Joker and Harley Quinn for couples.
The Ontario Hockey League (OHL) has released a statement in response to a recent CTV W5 investigation into an alleged sexual assault in 2014.
The game against the San Jose Sharks is Hellebuyck Night 鈥 a night to recognize Connor Hellebuyck and his success last season winning both the Vezina and William M. Jennings trophies.
麻豆影视' Rachel CrowSpreadingWings sat down with legendary Inuk hockey player Jordin Tootoo for an open conversation on his new documentary, Tootoo: The Jordin Tootoo Story. The film takes a look at achievements throughout his hockey career and his struggles with addictions.
Canada鈥檚 border guards have seized more than 1,900 stolen cars so far this year at railyards and ports, which is over a hundred more than in 2023.
The Ontario Provincial Police says the number of fatal collisions caused by distracted driving on the roads it patrols has increased by 40 per cent compared to this time last year.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk unveiled on Thursday his vision of a 'a fun, exciting future,' an 'age of abundance' full of his company鈥檚 self-driving cars without steering wheels, parking lots turned into parks and robots that will walk among the population 鈥 that he once again promised would be available within a few years.
A Nova Scotia man crossing Canada on foot is passing through southwestern Ontario. Trevor Redmond is perhaps better known as the 鈥楩ellow in Yellow.鈥
John Cantin vividly remembers opening day for his Victoria diner. Stress levels were high, tables were full, and one of the most popular menu items couldn鈥檛 be freed from the unyielding grip of the waffle maker.
A Manitoba professor is warning the public after a book on regional mushrooms that he suspects is AI-generated was delisted from Amazon.
A B.C. judge has issued a decision in a years-long dispute between neighbours that began with a noise complaint over barking dogs, crowing roosters and quacking ducks 鈥 awarding $15,000 in damages to the plaintiffs in the case.
An Ottawa man was arrested after taking a shower in a stranger's house, Ottawa police say.
S岣祑x瘫w煤7mesh 脷xwumixw (Squamish Nation) Chef Paul Natrall, the man behind Indigenous food truck Mr. Bannock, is bringing cooking classes on First Nations fare to schools and offices throughout Metro Vancouver.
The Celtic Colours Festival is taking place at venues around Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia from Oct. 11 to 19.
Sometimes love is written in the stars, but for one couple, it鈥檚 written in the aurora borealis.
Canadian hip hop artist Dillan King says running 100 marathons in 100 days was not only the hardest thing he has ever done, but the 'proudest accomplishment' of his entire life.
B.C. NDP Leader David Eby slammed his billionaire constituent Chip Wilson 鈥 again 鈥 on the campaign trail, following the publication of an op-ed by the Lululemon founder.
Forecasters have elevated their warnings about an atmospheric river system that is expected to hit coastal British Columbia on Friday, bringing potential flooding, heavy rain and high winds.
The agency that regulates real estate agents in B.C. has cancelled the licences of a man and his personal real estate corporation after he admitted to using an unregistered mortgage broker and submitting "falsified income and savings information" on two mortgage applications.
A Canadian former Olympic snowboarder who is suspected of being the leader of a transnational drug trafficking group that operated in four countries is wanted for allegedly orchestrating the murder of an 'innocent' couple in Ontario in 2023, authorities say.
The Ontario Hockey League (OHL) has released a statement in response to a recent CTV W5 investigation into an alleged sexual assault in 2014.
More than 100 school bus routes in Toronto are cancelled on Friday due to ongoing vehicle issues.
Calgary police say despite an autopsy being conducted, it's not yet known what caused the death of a young woman at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology.
A Calgary dad is pleading to have his modified 1999 Honda Civic returned after it was stolen by thieves in the community of Legacy over the Thanksgiving long weekend.
After more than seven years of construction, a new cancer centre in Calgary will open to patients and researchers.
Some doctors in Ottawa say the pile of paperwork they're doing every day has been steadily growing as more public service workers seek doctor's notes in order to receive accommodations to work from home.
The Ottawa Police Service is asking the public for help in identifying three suspects involved in an alleged theft and multiple fraud incidents that happened last month in the city's west end.
Environment Canada's senior weather climatologist says Ottawa will see "more of a winter than last year," as it experiences a possible La Nina weather event this year
Montreal police arrested five suspects following two separate investigations involving crimes targeting a Verdun bar and a downtown restaurant.
Nurses and other Quebec health-care workers voted 66.3 per cent in favour of a conciliator's recommendation to renew their collective agreement after several months of negotiations with the provincial government.
Police are investigating a fire at a home in Dorval owned by Emile Benamor, the owner of the two Old Montreal buildings that were allegedly set on fire in the past year, killing nine.
RCMP are looking for witnesses in what they believe was the criminal death of a five-year-old girl at Wabamun Lake on Sunday.
Edmonton education support staff could be heading to the picket lines.
Edmonton police are hoping the public can help identify people involved in a shooting in the southside neighbourhood of Duggan last month.
A profane anti-Israel message on a digital billboard in Moncton, N.B., has been turned off, but the question of how it got there in the first place remains.
A new study says nearly four in 10 Canadians are worse off financially than they were a year ago.
The future of the popular Parade of Lights in Halifax is uncertain due to the sale of the media company that has sponsored it for years.
A 52-year-old man has been charged after six bison were killed in an illegal hunt on a Manitoba farm.
There are 42 stray dogs in the care of the Winnipeg Animal Services 鈥 nearly double the facility鈥檚 normal capacity.
Over the past several years, the Winnipeg has been the backdrop for dozens of Hallmark holiday movies and this year several more are being added to the growing list of feel-good, seasonal films that are Manitoba-shot.
An Amber Alert issued by Waskesiu Lake RCMP for a 5-day-old baby boy has been cancelled.
Saskatchewan Party Leader Scott Moe announced Thursday that if re-elected his party's 'first order of business' would be to introduce a policy that would ban 'biological males' from changing with 'biological females' in school changerooms.
Yorkton鈥檚 Chamber of Commerce hosted an 鈥淎ll Candidates Forum鈥 Wednesday evening. With over 200 people in attendance, residents said they feel more confident in who to vote for in the upcoming provincial election.
Trustees with an Ontario school board are responding to criticism over a $45,000 trip to Italy, where they purchased more than $100,000 worth of religious statues.
Two police officers took the stand Thursday to describe what they found on Erick Buhr's clothing after his grandmother, Viola Erb, was attacked.
A Canadian former Olympic snowboarder who is suspected of being the leader of a transnational drug trafficking group that operated in four countries is wanted for allegedly orchestrating the murder of an 'innocent' couple in Ontario in 2023, authorities say.
An Amber Alert issued by Waskesiu Lake RCMP for a 5-day-old baby boy has been cancelled.
Saskatoon mayoral candidate Cary Tarasoff says it's time for the city to get its finances back on track after building a reputation of overspending and mismanaging costly projects.
The Prince Albert Police Service is investigating after unidentified human remains were found in the city.
A Canadian former Olympic snowboarder who is suspected of being the leader of a transnational drug trafficking group that operated in four countries is wanted for allegedly orchestrating the murder of an 'innocent' couple in Ontario in 2023, authorities say.
A Quebec-based company that supplies hydro turbines and generators has been fined $80,000 after a millwright was critically injured at a job site last year in Iron Bridge, Ont.
An intoxicated person living on Highway 17 in Spragge, Ont., has been arrested for making repeated false 911 calls in a span of several hours Oct. 11.
West Elgin fire crews say flames were pushing through the roof when they arrived on Graham Road just after 2:00 p.m.
OPP closed a section of road in Middlesex County on Thursday morning following a crash.
The first day of testimony at the fatal bush bash shooting trial heard from a 21-year-old woman who was at the party when things turned deadly.
An Orillia man has been arrested four months after a collision on Highway 12 in Ramara Township that police say claimed the life of a senior.
On Thursday, provincial police issued a reminder to the public about the warning signs of fraud involving online transactions and financial transfers.
At 17 years old, Myles Kozinski is making a difference by creating the Orillia community fridge program.
Windsor police are investigating shots fired in a quiet east Riverside neighbourhood.
Closing arguments are complete in a careless driving trial in Chatham.
The revival and relaunch of Maple Leaf Wrestling, under the new name, Maple Leaf Pro (MLP) Wrestling, is set to take shape this weekend at St. Clair College in Windsor.
B.C. NDP Leader David Eby slammed his billionaire constituent Chip Wilson 鈥 again 鈥 on the campaign trail, following the publication of an op-ed by the Lululemon founder.
Forecasters have elevated their warnings about an atmospheric river system that is expected to hit coastal British Columbia on Friday, bringing potential flooding, heavy rain and high winds.
The Transportation Safety Board says a mistake by a Canadian Pacific Railway supervisor set off a crash between a freight train and a railway work vehicle in Cache Creek, B.C.
Dave Lindsey began growing giant pumpkins to bring a bit of magic to his grandkids' Halloween.
A U.S. District Court judge in Montana has sentenced a 27-year-old man from Kelowna, B.C., to 18 months in prison for using fake names to buy guns with the aim of selling them in Canada.
Nearly two years after a man was stabbed to death in downtown Kelowna, RCMP have made an arrest in the case.
With Halloween just around the corner, the Lethbridge Bulls staff have been hard at work getting Spitz Stadium ready for a different sort of fall classic.
Lethbridge post-secondary schools are trying to navigate recent changes to the cap on international students, announced by the federal government in January.
More than 600 students on the Piikani Nation will soon have a new space to learn after the federal government announced funding Thursday morning.
Surveillance cameras that are used to both deter crimes and help investigations will soon be installed throughout Sault Ste. Marie.
A Quebec-based company that supplies hydro turbines and generators has been fined $80,000 after a millwright was critically injured at a job site last year in Iron Bridge, Ont.
A physician shortage is again forcing the closure of the emergency department at the Thessalon Site of the North Shore Health Network.
A five-hour drive from St. John's, N.L., and well off the beaten path, Point Leamington seems an unlikely spot for a one-of-a-kind tourist attraction.
A Conservative MP from Newfoundland and Labrador says some small towns in his rural riding are overrun with crime, but police say they haven't received reports to that effect.
As millions in federal funding flow into a Labrador group whose claims of Inuit identity have been rejected by Indigenous organizations across Canada, a national Inuit leader worries the Liberal government is putting the rights of Indigenous Peoples at risk.
The Shopping Trends team is independent of the journalists at 麻豆影视. We may earn a commission when you use our links to shop.聽Read about us.
