Dec 18 (Reuters) - Thousands of Amazon.com ( AMZN )

workers will walk off the job on Thursday at 6 a.m. ET (1100

GMT), in the crucial final days before Christmas, after union

officials said the retailer failed to come to the bargaining

table.

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters said unionized

workers at facilities in New York City; Skokie, Illinois;

Atlanta, San Francisco and southern California will join the

picket line to seek contracts guaranteeing better wages and work

conditions.

The Teamsters union has said it represents about 10,000

workers at 10 of the company's U.S. facilities, representing

about 1% of Amazon's ( AMZN ) hourly workforce.

The strike could disrupt Amazon's ( AMZN ) operations as it races

to fulfill orders during its busiest season of the year. In the

New York City area, however, the company has multiple

warehouses, as well as smaller delivery depots for fast same-day

delivery.

Amazon ( AMZN ) did not immediately respond to a Reuters request

for comment.

The union had given Amazon ( AMZN ) a deadline of Sunday to begin

negotiations, and workers voted recently to authorize a possible

strike.

Teamsters local unions are also putting up primary

picket lines at hundreds of Amazon Fulfillment Centers

nationwide, the union said in a statement on Wednesday.