Teamsters union strike against Amazon to impact Skokie facility amid holiday shipping season

SKOKIE, Ill. (WLS) -- In the heart of the busy holiday season, workers at several Amazon facilities are on strike Thursday morning. One of those facilities is in Skokie.

The teamsters union is calling it one of the biggest strikes against Amazon in U.S. history.

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Workers in Skokie will be joining other amazon employees across the country in California and New York to put pressure on the company to reach a labor agreement. All of this taking place just days before Christmas.

The unions said it gave Amazon a December 15 deadline to come to the bargaining table and negotiate a contract with better pay and working conditions.

"It's important because as workers, we need our voices heard," Teamsters Union member Ash Brooks said. "This has been a long time coming and we need to show Jeff Bezos and the entire Amazon corporation and the rest of the world that our voices matter."

The union said they represent nearly 10,000 Amazon workers, which accounts for less than 1 percent of the company's workforce.

Amazon said they don't expect an impact to operations.

The company said in a statement, "What you see here are almost entirely outsiders-not Amazon employees or partners-and the suggestion otherwise is just another lie from the Teamsters. The truth is that they were unable to get enough support from our employees and partners and have brought in outsiders to come and harass and intimidate our team, which is inappropriate and dangerous. We appreciate all our team's great work to serve their customers and communities, and are continuing to focus on getting customers their holiday orders."

The past six years, Amazon said it has boosted its starting minimum wage for fulfillment and transportation employees by 20 percent.