Amazon workers at 3 SoCal facilities join strike amid busy holiday shopping season

CITY OF INDUSTRY, Calif. (KABC) -- Workers at three Southern California Amazon facilities joined thousands of others in a nationwide strike against Amazon Thursday amid the busy holiday shipping season.

Outside of the City of Industry facility, workers were heard chanting "Amazon you can't hide, we can see your greedy side".

Teamster workers walked off the job at 6 a.m. Thursday at delivery hubs in City of Industry, Palmdale, and Victorville. The Teamsters union also represents workers in San Bernardino.

The Teamsters union said they launched a strike after Amazon ignored the deadline for contract negotiations on Dec. 15. They said Amazon refuses to recognize their union, affecting nearly 10,000 warehouse workers and drivers across the country.

The strikes extended across the country at seven different locations, affecting facilities in Southern California, New York, Illinois and Georgia.

The union is calling it the largest strike against the online shopping giant less than a week before Christmas.

"If your package is delayed during the holidays, you can blame Amazon's insatiable greed. We gave Amazon a clear deadline to come to the table and do right by 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've pushed workers to the limit and now they're paying the price. This strike is on them."

In a statement to ABC News, an Amazon spokesperson claimed that most of the strikers are not Amazon employees.

"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."

Workers told Eyewitness News that Amazon's claims simply do not make sense.

"We represent Amazon, we have to follow their strict guidelines and when we don't follow those guidelines Amazon can actually terminate us," said Richard Smith, member of Teamsters Local 396. "So we have two people that can actually terminate us, Easy Logistics and Amazon. So why do they have authority to discipline us when they're not our employer? That doesn't make sense."

CNN Wire contributed to this report.