Stephen Piercey, Communications Director of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 89 and Riss Krull, a member of the Amazon KCVG organizing campaign, joined the America’s Work Force Union Podcast to discuss the events that led workers at Amazon’s KCVG hub to go on a one-day Unfair Labor Practice strike during their organizing campaign..
Piercey serves as the Communications Director for Local 89 in Louisville, Ky. after spending 23 years with the Teamsters. He got his start at UPS in 2001 and has worked hard to grow in the Local, despite his assertion that he’s “just a UPS worker who was at the right place at the right time.” Krull is a leader in the organizing campaign at Amazon’s biggest air hub at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport. She joined the campaign to organize last September and discussed why she and her coworkers want to join the Teamsters.
Last Wednesday, the workers at KCVG went on a one-day ULP strike. Piercey said this was in direct response to several of the illegal actions that Amazon has taken in retaliation to the organizing campaign. Krull outlined several illegal activities she witnessed her employer taking against the organizing workers. Piercey and Krull addressed the strike and some of Amazon's reactions, including claims that the strike prevented workers from entering the facility.
Throughout the organizing campaign, Amazon has chosen to use union-busting activities to slow the campaign's progress. This included claiming that the Teamsters and workers on strike were “outsiders,” similar to Amazon's claims during other strike actions across the country, Piercey said. Krull added that a founding member of the Amazon KCVG Teamsters Union organzing campaign was fired by Amazon, and there is a pending ULP charge against Amazon for that retaliatory action. Both guests talked about the impact this organizing effort could have on other campaigns at Amazon locations across the country.
Listen to the show above to hear more on the status of Teamsters Local 89’s organizing campaign at Amazon KCVG.