Amazon Settled the Teamsters’ Strike Retaliation Case. Here’s What That Means If You Work There.

Amazon reached a settlement with the National Labor Relations Board on March 31, 2026, agreeing to stop penalizing workers who go on strike by draining their Unpaid Time balance. The company will also restore UPT hours it previously deducted from workers who participated in strikes. The settlement resolves charges filed by the Teamsters union and individual Amazon workers across multiple states, and requires Amazon to post a notice of workers’ rights at its facilities nationwide. This is not a cash class action — there is no claim form to file. But if Amazon docked your UPT for striking, your hours should come back.

What Is UPT, and Why Did It Become a Weapon?

UPT stands for Unpaid Time — a bank of hours Amazon gives frontline warehouse and delivery workers to use for unscheduled absences, last-minute emergencies, or personal situations. Amazon gives frontline workers a limited number of hours of unpaid leave, which it said can be used for “last minute issues or emergencies,” according to an internal employee handbook cited in the NLRB’s complaint.

The problem is what happens when you run out. The company effectively uses UPT as an attendance policy, and Amazon may terminate workers when they run out of it. That made UPT less of a benefit and more of a countdown clock — one that suddenly started ticking faster the moment workers walked off the job.

The NLRB cited several cases since 2022 where Amazon deducted employees’ UPT after they went on strike. In at least one case, striking workers feared they would lose their job after their UPT “went negative” once it was deducted by Amazon, according to the complaint. Losing your UPT for striking isn’t a policy quirk — under federal labor law, it’s illegal retaliation against workers exercising a protected right.

What Sparked the NLRB Case

The legal chain that led to this settlement started with a strike at Amazon’s DCK6 facility in San Francisco. The NLRB complaint stemmed from charges filed by the Teamsters and by Amazon workers at facilities in states including New Jersey, Ohio, Maryland, Georgia and Minnesota.

The NLRB ruled in early 2025 that Amazon’s practice of taking striking workers’ UPT was illegal — a ruling that Amazon almost immediately appealed. For the better part of a year, Teamsters lawyers fought the appeal through mediated NLRB sessions while workers on the shop floor organized marches, circulated petitions, and kept pressure on management at the facility level.

In December 2024, Amazon Teamsters picketed more than 200 of the facilities in over 20 states. During the Christmastime strike, workers walked off the job in the midst of the holiday mail season to demand contract negotiations and an end to retaliation. That December strike intensified pressure on Amazon at exactly the moment it could least afford operational disruption.

What Amazon Actually Agreed To Do

The settlement, reached March 31, 2026, includes three concrete commitments from Amazon:

Stop docking UPT for strikes, permanently. Amazon has agreed not to terminate or “otherwise discriminate against” employees who went over their UPT balance, or were docked UPT hours after they participated in a strike or work stoppage. Going forward, walking off the job in a lawful strike cannot cost you your UPT — and by extension, cannot be used as a path to termination.

Restore UPT to workers who had it taken. As part of that settlement, Amazon will restore unpaid time off to more than 100 employees. If your hours were docked because you struck, they come back.

Post a notice of workers’ rights at every facility. The company will also post a notice in employee break rooms at “all 1,300 Amazon facilities nationwide” informing workers of their right to organize and the terms of the settlement, the Teamsters said. That notice matters — it’s a public acknowledgment, posted on Amazon’s own property, that workers have the right to strike without losing their time.

Related article: Home Nurse Allegedly Abused Two Medically Fragile Children in Their Own Beds. Surveillance Cameras Caught It.

The Dispute Amazon and the Teamsters Still Don’t Agree On

One significant factual conflict runs through this settlement, and workers should know it exists. In its prepared release about the settlement, the Teamsters said the deal will cover all of about 1,300 Amazon facilities in the U.S. Amazon said the actual number is 12.

The Teamsters frame this as a nationwide policy change covering every Amazon warehouse in the country. Amazon frames it as a resolution of a handful of specific cases. Both sides are presenting the same agreement through very different lenses. The NLRB’s final ratification of the settlement — which the Teamsters have publicly pushed the agency to complete quickly — will clarify the official scope.

Amazon admitted no wrongdoing in the settlement. The company’s statement said it believed it managed the situations appropriately but agreed to resolve the matter to move forward.

What This Doesn’t Mean — And Why That Matters

This settlement is significant, but it doesn’t flip a switch on Amazon’s relationship with organized labor. A few things it does not do:

It does not give the Teamsters a contract at any Amazon facility. There are only two Amazon-owned locations where workers have voted to be represented by a union — a warehouse on Staten Island, New York, and a Whole Foods store in Philadelphia. No contract has been signed at either location.

It does not mean Amazon has recognized the Teamsters as a bargaining representative across its network. A settlement on retaliation is not the same thing as recognition, and it’s nowhere near a nationwide contract.

What it does do is remove one concrete punishment from the equation. Workers can now act with one less immediate penalty hanging over them, which in practice lowers the barrier to future organizing and strike activity. For workers who were afraid that striking meant risking their jobs through UPT depletion, that fear now has less legal basis.

Your Rights as an Amazon Worker Right Now

Whether or not you are a Teamster member, the National Labor Relations Act protects your right to engage in collective action. Here is what the law has always guaranteed — and what this settlement reinforces:

You have the right to strike. Federal law protects your ability to walk off the job in a lawful work stoppage. Amazon cannot legally fire you for exercising this right, and under this settlement, it cannot drain your UPT for doing so either.

You have the right to organize. Discussing wages, working conditions, and union organizing with your coworkers is protected activity under the NLRA. Amazon cannot legally punish you for it.

You have the right to read the posted notice. Amazon must display a notice at all covered facilities explaining the settlement terms and your rights. If you do not see this notice posted and believe you work at a covered facility, that is a potential violation you can report to the NLRB.

If you believe Amazon docked your UPT for participating in a strike before this settlement and you have not had it restored, contact the NLRB directly or reach out to the Teamsters Amazon Division.

The Bigger Picture: What This Signals for Amazon Workers

Nearly 10,000 Amazon workers have organized with the Teamsters over the last two years. The Teamsters created an Amazon division in 2021 specifically to fund and coordinate unionization efforts across the company’s facilities, and this settlement hands that effort something tangible to build on.

The December 2024 strike showed workers that coordinated action at scale was possible — even without formal union recognition at most facilities. This settlement shows that such action can produce legal results that change Amazon’s actual policies. Those two facts together create a different organizing environment than existed a year ago.

For workers not yet in a union, the question the settlement raises is straightforward: if collective pressure forced Amazon to reverse a UPT policy it had enforced for years, what else might it be forced to change?

Key Facts at a Glance

Detail	What We Know
Settlement Date	March 31, 2026
Legal Forum	National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)
Case Origin	Charges filed by Teamsters + individual workers in NJ, OH, MD, GA, MN
What Amazon Agreed To	Stop docking UPT for strikes; restore docked UPT; post workers’ rights notice
Workers Getting UPT Restored	More than 100 (per NLRB)
Facilities Covered	1,300 (Teamsters claim) / 12 (Amazon claim) — disputed
Cash Payout to Workers	None — this is a rights-based NLRB settlement, not a class action
Amazon Admission of Wrongdoing	None
NLRB Ratification	Pending

Your Questions Answered

Did Amazon admit it did something wrong? 

No. Amazon’s spokesperson said the company believed it managed the situations appropriately but agreed to resolve the matter to move forward. Settling an NLRB case without admitting wrongdoing is standard practice — it does not mean the conduct was legal, and the NLRB’s own earlier ruling called the UPT deductions illegal.

How do I get my UPT back if Amazon docked it during a strike?

 The settlement covers more than 100 workers identified in the NLRB case. If you participated in a Teamsters-organized strike and had UPT deducted, contact your local Teamsters representative or the Teamsters Amazon Division directly to confirm whether your hours are included in the restoration. You can also file a charge directly with the NLRB at nlrb.gov if you believe your rights were violated.

Does this settlement apply to me if I’m not a Teamster member? 

The right to strike is protected under federal law for all workers, union or not. The settlement’s posted notice will appear at Amazon facilities regardless of whether workers there are organized. However, the specific UPT restoration covers workers identified in the NLRB charges — primarily those involved in Teamsters-affiliated strike activity.

Can Amazon still fire me for striking?

 Federal law has always prohibited firing workers for engaging in protected strike activity. What this settlement adds is a specific prohibition on using UPT depletion as a back-door termination mechanism after a strike. Amazon cannot drain your UPT for striking and then fire you for having no UPT left.

Is this settlement final?

 Not yet. The Teamsters publicly called on the NLRB to ratify the agreement immediately. Until the NLRB formally approves it, the settlement remains in a pending state — though Amazon has already committed to its terms publicly.

Does this mean Amazon is recognizing the Teamsters as a union?

 No. This is an NLRB settlement about retaliation — it does not constitute union recognition or create a collective bargaining obligation at any new facility. Amazon’s unionized locations remain limited to the Staten Island warehouse and the Philadelphia Whole Foods. No contract has been signed at either.

What is the NLRB and why does it matter here? 

The National Labor Relations Board is the federal agency that enforces workers’ rights to organize and engage in collective action under the National Labor Relations Act. When workers or unions file charges alleging illegal retaliation — like Amazon’s UPT policy — the NLRB investigates, issues complaints if it finds merit, and can compel settlements or go to trial before an Administrative Law Judge. This case went through that full process before settling.

Last Updated: April 2, 2026

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Labor rights and remedies depend on specific facts and applicable law. If you believe your rights as a worker have been violated, contact the NLRB or consult a qualified labor attorney.