The Teamsters union’s strike against Amazon impacts facilities in California, New York, Illinois and Georgia

The Teamsters union is launching a strike against Amazon that begins Thursday morning and includes facilities in New York, Illinois and Georgia as well as several facilities in California.

The union says thousands of Amazon workers will walk off the job at 6 a.m., right in the middle of the busy holiday shipping season.

“If your package is delayed during the holidays, you can blame Amazon’s insatiable greed. We have given Amazon a clear deadline to come to the table and do the right thing for our members. They ignored it,” said Teamsters general president Sean M. O’Brien. “These greedy executives had every chance to show decency and respect for the people who make their obscene profits possible. Instead, they pushed workers to the limit and now they are paying the price. This strike is at their expense.”

The strike will affect several facilities in California, including San Francisco, Victorville, City of Industry and Palmdale, as well as facilities in Queens, New York; Skokie, Ill.; and Atlanta, Georgia.

The retail giant said its operations would not be affected by any of the union’s actions. Although the Teamsters claim to represent 7,000 Amazon workers nationwide, that represents less than 1% of the company’s U.S. workforce.

The conflict between the union and the online retail giant is just the latest attempt by the Teamsters to put pressure on the company and its strong anti-union policies amid the crucial holiday shopping season. It’s also a sign that unions are trying out new strategies to represent workers at Amazon, America’s second-largest private sector employer.

But Amazon is showing no signs of being willing to reach an agreement with the Teamsters or even acknowledging that the union speaks for any of its workers, even though the union has said that employees at numerous Amazon facilities have signed membership cards .

“For more than a year, the Teamsters have continued to intentionally mislead the public – claiming that they represent ‘thousands of Amazon employees and drivers.’ They don’t and this is another attempt to spread a false narrative. “The truth is that the Teamsters have actively threatened, intimidated and attempted to force Amazon employees and third-party drivers to join them, which is illegal and the subject of several pending unfair labor practice charges against the union,” Amazon spokeswoman Kelly said Nantel in a statement.

CNN Wire contributed to this report.

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