Teamsters votes to support and fund Amazon workers

[June 25, 2021]  (Reuters) -The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, a labor union in the United States and Canada, has voted to formalize a resolution to support, fund and supply resources to employees of Amazon.com Inc in their unionization efforts.

A worker assembles a box for delivery at the Amazon fulfillment center in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S., April 30, 2019. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne/File Photo

"Amazon workers are calling for safer and better working conditions, and with today's resolution, we are activating the full force of our union to support them," Randy Korgan, the union's national director for Amazon, said on Thursday.

Nearly 96% of delegates voted in favor of the resolution at the 30th international convention of Teamsters, which includes representatives from 500 unions and together account for 1.4 million workers in the United States.

Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The e-commerce giant and one of the largest private employers in America has for decades discouraged attempts among its over 800,000 U.S. employees to organize, showing managers how to identify union activity, raising wages and warning that union dues would cut into pay.

The union had said on Tuesday that its delegates will vote on a resolution to make the campaign at Amazon a 'top priority'.

(Reporting by Eva Mathews in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)

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