Workers stage strike at seven Amazon facilities, including San Francisco

The national strike by union workers against Amazon is being felt locally, as labor attempts to force the e-commerce retailer to the bargaining table to begin contract negotiations.

Striking workers walked off the job and walked picket lines at Amazon facilities in California, New York, Georgia, and Illinois. 

Amazon employs one-and-a-half million full-time and part-time workers around the world. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters claims to represent about 10,000 workers at 10 Amazon delivery stations. But

Amazon has refused to recognize the union.

Amazon is ranked second on the annual Fortune Global 500 list and is valued at more than two trillion dollars. But the Teamsters claim Amazon’s workers are underpaid.

Recently, the union voted to authorize a strike. Amazon ignored a Sunday deadline set by the Teamsters to begin negotiations. Now the union says its members will picket hundreds of Amazon fulfillment centers around the country.

An Amazon spokesperson said that the labor action was not expected to impact its holiday operations, traditionally its busiest.