# Why are police breaking up Amazon strikes **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 20, 2024, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-police-breaking-up-amazon-strikes/1011899 "2024-12-20T02:16:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2024, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-police-breaking-up-amazon-strikes/1011899/1 "2024-12-20T02:16:50Z")
> **[NYPD Arrests Workers During Historic Amazon Strike](https://inthesetimes.com/article/arrested-amazon-strike-nypd)** > > Police cracked down on striking drivers in Queens who blocked deliveries. > At the picket line in Queens, New York, police arrested and released Anthony Rosario, a Teamsters organizer, and Jogernsyn Cardenas, one of the striking workers, and then threatened mass arrests before breaking the line in two to allow vans through. > > Workers stood strong on picket lines, disrupting deliveries. Police threatened mass arrests with zip ties in hand, though they did not follow through as workers united to defend each other. > > Eventually, police barricaded the picket line and cleared a path for trucks to leave the delivery station unimpeded. This is meant to be a factual question, what law were the strikers breaking? Was it because they were blocking trucks from entering and leaving? ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2024, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-police-breaking-up-amazon-strikes/1011899/2 "2024-12-20T02:24:40Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > Was it because they were blocking trucks from entering and leaving? Yes. It says “Workers stood strong on picket lines, disrupting deliveries.” which would be disrupting normal Amazon business. I believe that’s illegal, but I don’t know New York law. ---
**Author:** ![ctnguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@ctnguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ctnguy)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2024, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-police-breaking-up-amazon-strikes/1011899/3 "2024-12-20T02:35:39Z")
The New York definition of [disorderly conduct](https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/PEN/240.20) includes: > A person is guilty of disorderly conduct when, with intent to cause > public inconvenience, annoyance or alarm, or recklessly creating a risk > thereof: […] > > 1. He obstructs vehicular or pedestrian traffic Presumably the strikers could be said to be intending to cause inconvenience and/or annoyance, and they were blocking vehicular traffic. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2024, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-police-breaking-up-amazon-strikes/1011899/4 "2024-12-20T12:43:57Z")
I saw the same comment on a video posted on social media - along with the usual misguided condemnations of the police as tools of the establishment, was the simple comment - “They moved people who were blocking traffic off the roadway. Nobody was arrested.” ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2024, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-police-breaking-up-amazon-strikes/1011899/5 "2024-12-20T12:47:35Z")
Blocking deliveries is beyond striking, picketing, and protesting. It comes under the category of “unlawful restraint” and, I assume, a couple of more laws one could name. If I was angry at the company you work for and decided to physically block you from doing your job, you wouldn’t consider that a crime? ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2024, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-police-breaking-up-amazon-strikes/1011899/6 "2024-12-20T13:06:35Z")
Also what wasn’t clear to me in the short clip I saw was whether they were blocking entry to their own place of work or a different Amazon facility where workers were not on strike. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2024, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-police-breaking-up-amazon-strikes/1011899/7 "2024-12-20T13:38:51Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > Blocking deliveries is beyond striking, picketing, and protesting. It comes under the category of “unlawful restraint” and, I assume, a couple of more laws one could name. If I was angry at the company you work for and decided to physically block you from doing your job, you wouldn’t consider that a crime? The whole point of civil disobedience is to break the law for a good cause. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2024, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-police-breaking-up-amazon-strikes/1011899/8 "2024-12-20T13:48:37Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > The whole point of civil disobedience is to break the law for a good cause. But then, the other point of civil disobendience is to make society feel bad or ashamed about making you suffer the consequences. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2024, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-police-breaking-up-amazon-strikes/1011899/9 "2024-12-20T13:49:16Z")
The Cops have never been about protecting **you**. The Rich simply won’t have anything , thieving, murder, or striking, that interferes with _More Money_. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2024, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-police-breaking-up-amazon-strikes/1011899/10 "2024-12-20T13:49:40Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > The whole point of civil disobedience is to break the law for a good cause. One’s definition of a “good cause” and how far one will go to achieve it is a slippery slope. My definition of a free market is that I have the right to find the best goods at the cheapest price as a consumer and, as a retailer/wholesaler, find the cheapest form of production and delivery. As far as I’m concerned, physically blocking access to a work place just because there are people who will work under the present agreement is over the line. Jimmy Hoffa and the teamsters come to mind as an example of how things can go too far. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2024, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-police-breaking-up-amazon-strikes/1011899/11 "2024-12-20T13:52:54Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > One’s definition of a “good cause” and how far one will go to achieve it is a slippery slope. My definition of a free market is that I have the right to find the best goods at the cheapest price as a consumer and, as a retailer/wholesaler, find the cheapest form of production and delivery. You have buyers, and you have retailers, but what about workers? What rights to they have? Doesn’t the free market mean that they have the right to receive the highest salary for the least amount of work? ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2024, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-police-breaking-up-amazon-strikes/1011899/12 "2024-12-20T14:10:52Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Doesn’t the free market mean that they have the right to receive the highest salary for the least amount of work? They have the right to ask for it and, if necessary, demonstrate and strike for it. They do not, however, have the right to intimidate/restrain other workers who are willing to work under the present agreement because the aggressors are trying to forcefully take away THEIR rights as workers. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2024, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-police-breaking-up-amazon-strikes/1011899/13 "2024-12-20T14:45:25Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > The whole point of civil disobedience is to break the law for a good cause. But the flip side is that laws like these are why pro-life activists can’t block people trying to get into a planned parenthood clinic. If you can physically stop people from entering an Amazon warehouse, you’d also be able to physically stop people from entering a planned parenthood clinic. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2024, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-police-breaking-up-amazon-strikes/1011899/14 "2024-12-20T15:28:42Z")
**Moderating** We’re getting into labor issues and civil disobedience issues which are outside of the scope of FQ. Since the factual portion of this topic has been addressed fairly well, I think this will do better if we move it to another forum. While a lot of this is debatable, I don’t see a properly formed debate here, so let’s move this to IMHO instead. Any additional factual information on this topic is of course still welcome.