Workers from Walmart, FedEx, Target, Instacart, Amazon, and Amazon’s Whole Foods Market plan to go on strike to protest what they say are unsafe working conditions amid the coronavirus pandemic, The Intercept first reported Wednesday.
The members of an unprecedented coalition of employees and gig workers in at least half a dozen states plan to call in sick or walk off their jobs during their lunch breaks on Friday, International Workers’ Day, according to The Intercept.
According to The Intercept, the workers are making a variety of demands, including back pay for unpaid time off they’ve used since the beginning of March, hazard pay or paid sick leave for the remainder of the pandemic, company-provided protective equipment and cleaning supplies at all times, and increased transparency from the companies about the number of COVID-19 cases in their facilities.
The organizers say their employers, all of which have been considered essential business and remained open during the pandemic, are seeing record profits at the expense of workers’ health and safety.
“We are acting in conjunction with workers at Amazon, Target, Instacart and other companies for International Worker’s Day to show solidarity with other essential workers in our struggle for better protections and benefits in the pandemic,” Daniel Steinbrook, a Whole Foods employee and strike organizer, told The Intercept.
Christian Smalls, who was fired by Amazon after his participation in a protest over the company’s refusal to close a New York warehouse when a worker there tested positive for COVID-19, tweeted a picture of flyer advertising the strike.
“It’s time to join up! Protect all workers at all cost we are not expandable or replaceable enough is enough TAKE THE POWER BACK!” Smalls said in the tweet.https://d-21108621122973114635.ampproject.net/2004240001480/frame.html
News of the protests comes as essential workers are increasingly speaking outabout working conditions and lawmakers and labor regulators are paying closer attention to companies’ responses.
Amazon workers have organized multiple strikes in New York, Chicago, Minnesota, and Italy, as well as virtually, as colleagues have tested positive for COVID-19, calling the company’s coronavirus response inadequate and criticizing its refusal to provide information about the number of its warehouses that have seen outbreaks of the disease.
Amazon defended its warehouse conditions and safety procedures, telling Business Insider in a statement that “masks, temperature checks, hand sanitizer, increased time off, increased pay, and more are standard across our Amazon and Whole Food Market networks already.”
The company also disputed workers’ allegations about a lack of protective equipment, inadequate safety measures, and retaliation for employee activism.
“While we respect people’s right to express themselves, we object to the irresponsible actions of labor groups in spreading misinformation and making false claims about Amazon… The statements made are not supported by facts or representative of the majority of the 500,000 Amazon operations employees in the U.S. who are showing up to work,” it said.
Credit: Business Insider
Heather Monzo Kelly Ann
Good for them! These are things that should have been in place the beginning of this. Workers need more !
Joey Burgos
Casey Smith here’s your update????
If unemployment can get an extra $600 so should those risking getting this damn thing!
Give them whatever they want!!
A little late for that ????????♀️
They should be given PPE to do their jobs we are not allowed to go to the store and do shopping everyone shopping from home they should be given the proper protection so that they can continue to serve the public there service is greatly appreciate it the FedEx guy who delivers my Walmart deliveries does not wear masks does not wear gloves is an older gentleman I asked him from a distance if they supply them he is told me that they do not I work for a heating and air conditioning company that regularly supplies us with gloves masks and booties and hand sanitizer and Clorox wipes these guys should all be given the same respect that we all would want but please please please please do not go on strike
Joe Zinn
Congrats, you’ll make it next to impossible to get a job at Amazon or it’s affiliates..
Walmart won’t strike they will be fired
Susan Staples-Wenk all cashiers at Walmart Lanoka harbor called out yesterday. Silent strike perhaps
Eddy Fitzpatrick well that cant be many people since Lacey doesn’t use cashiers much anymore anyway.
Susan Staples-Wenk striking – whether they are union or not – is a protected NLRB labor action. The companies can be held liable for wrongful termination including hefty damages and fines if they fire them.
Lisa DeCarlo Kerr true they only normally have one or two , maybe 3 on the weekend. Still it’s rather difficult to check out a whole overflowing cart at the self checkout
Eddy Fitzpatrick yes and I have seen that awful display since they first switched it. I don’t think I have been back there since, except for maybe one or two items. I can’t be bothered to check out a whole cart of items.
Eddy Fitzpatrick good for them!!!!!
Susan Staples-Wenk Probably
Can yall ship my package before you do? Waiting 2 weeks for one day shipping ????????????????
And so it begins…..
Where is AOC, she has been wanting this since the beginning, Crippel the nation, hurt the people. If you don’t like your job quit, make room for someone that does. Yes PPE should be available to all employees and as far as I know, they are.
Tim Reid Someone close to me works at a Walmart and the company does not make PPE available to the employees. They said they were giving out masks and gloves never happened. If you want protection you needed to buy your own supplies.
Then do that.
If you say 1 bad word about Amazon you are fired on the spot… not union , so they can. And ‘Union’ is a bad word. They are the hardest working employees I was ever associated with. Good luck to them…????
Good they should
Of course they will waiting for more train scenery to come in
I have N-95 masks for sale if they need them. $6 each. Let them be safe.
Brittany Wolf-McClelland Rachael Pounds Pabon Jennifer Lynn Suk Matthew McClelland Stephanie Detore Steven Krinsky
Ashley Odell
Why did they wait until now?
Pink slips for all
Kevin Conlow Um. Might want to brush up on your labor laws there buddy.
Matt Tottle nope fire them all
Kevin Conlow They CANT you moron. Unless they want to be paying out wrongful termination suits and 7-8 figure fines. Like I said, you need to learn how labor laws work. Striking is a protected labor action, regardless if you are in a union, and an employer can not retaliate against it.
Matt Tottle fuck you
Kevin Conlow thanks for proving me right about you being a moron.
Its not conditions. All of you just want to collect UE and make 3 times what you usually make. Relax
You are clueless. That’s not how unemployment works. You maybe get 1/3 to 2/3 of what you make working.
Howard Frank try again. I was out for 3 weeks when my job shut for the virus. Was making double my standard weekly pay without overtime. Max unemployment benefit 713+ 600 extra from the feds. This is happening all over the country in many cases.
So when they all go on strike and they are home and they need something who do they call?
I had to put an order in
why not !!!!
WE just visited a Target and the store is disorganized. I truly feel sorry for the employees. They are trying to do a job in difficult circumstances. Few had any protection. Only one to blame is management. Contrast Target with what Costco is doing. Costco has their act together. A fantastic job!!!!
Wtf…
Brittney Molloy
What town is this happening in?
Wait.. I need my crap… ????