Teamsters at an Amazon facility in Queens, N.Y., allege that a union buster hired by the company verbally assaulted and used a homophobic slur against a driver as he arrived for work.
Juan Carlos Cervantes of Government Resources Consultants of America confronted the employee on Tuesday morning at the company’s DBK4 facility in Queens.
The union said in a media release that the incident was observed by multiple witnesses, including Amazon management.
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The International Brotherhood of Teamsters is filing unfair labor practice charges over the assault, as well as formal complaints with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
“Amazon hired this union buster to come harass me at work and call me a homophobic slur,” the assaulted Amazon driver said. “Amazon is creating an unsafe workplace for me and my co-workers, especially my fellow Teamsters who identify as LGBTQ. We don’t need harassment and homophobia. What we need is for Amazon to follow the law and negotiate a Teamsters Union contract that provides the pay and safety we deserve.”
The union alleges in the media release that Cervantes verbally threatened the delivery driver with physical violence at work before loudly calling the Teamster a homophobic slur multiple times as he prepared for work.
The driver was able to begin making deliveries as work got underway on Tuesday, but was notified by Amazon management later in the day that the e-commerce giant was suspending him pending an investigation into the attack.
According to the Teamsters, Amazon spent more than $17.2 million in 2022 and 2023 hiring corporate union busters to swarm its delivery stations, warehouses, and fulfillment centers to try to intimidate or threaten workers from joining the Teamsters.
Cervantes was paid $75,000 during a previous anti-union campaign, according to union-busting watchdog group LaborLab.
Drivers at DBK4 organized with the Teamsters on Sept. 16. In the months since, Amazon has refused to recognize the union, leading to the filing of numerous ULP charges against the company for worker retaliation, union-busting, and blatant labor law violations.
Amazon is legally obligated to bargain a first contract with the Teamsters drivers under federal law.
Following the worker’s suspension, drivers marched on the boss at DBK4 earlier today to demand his reinstatement and for the immediate removal of Cervantes and other union busters that Amazon has brought into the facility.
As of Wednesday afternoon, Amazon told the Teamsters Union the worker remains suspended but would not respond about the union buster.
“I came in on my day off to stand with my co-worker, Emmanuel, and tell Amazon that this is unacceptable,” said Latrice Shadae Johnson, an Amazon Teamster and driver at DBK4. “I have a lot of family and friends in the LGBTQ community. It hurts to know that Amazon is paying this union buster way more than they pay us. We are not backing down in our fight for Amazon to recognize us as Teamsters.”
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Chris Graham
