Over 300 Amazon employees are reportedly planning on calling out of work starting on Tuesday to protest the e-commerce giant’s treatment of workers during the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic, according to the Hill.
The Hill reports that over 300 Amazon workers plan to call out of work on Tuesday to protest the company’s treatment of its workers during the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic. The callout has been organized by labor groups including United for Respect, New York Communities for Change and Make the Road New York. The protest is expected to be the largest mass action by workers yet during the pandemic.
The protest follows several strikes at facilities in the New York City borough of Staten Island, Chicago, and Detroit where multiple employees have tested positive for the coronavirus. Jaylen Camp, an Amazon worker at a fulfillment center in Romulus, Michigan, commented:
I’m calling out this week because I’m scared to come to work and can’t trust Amazon to keep me and my co-workers safe. We have to make an impossible choice every day: go to a workplace that’s not safe or risk losing a paycheck in the middle of a global recession.
Rather than take real steps to protect our health, Amazon would rather stall, lie and fire the people who speak up. We will not be intimidated. Our health and everyone’s health is too important.
Over 130 Amazon facilities have stated that at least one of their employees has tested positive for the Wuhan coronavirus according to Athena, a coalition of advocacy groups that focus on working conditions at Amazon. Last week, Amazon confirmed the first death of a warehouse worker from the disease.
Amazon has attempted to address some of the issues raised by warehouse workers including promising to increase the cleaning of workplaces and enforcing social distancing rules. Amazon also promised to raise wages for hourly workers by $2 per hour and offered paid time off for those that suffered from fevers which is a common symptom of the Wuhan coronavirus.
An Amazon spokesperson told The Hill that the protester’s accusations were “unfounded,” adding: “We have taken extreme measures to keep people safe, tripling down on deep cleaning, procuring safety supplies that are available, and changing processes to ensure those in our buildings are keeping safe distances. The truth is the vast majority of employees continue to show up and do the heroic work of delivering for their communities every day.”
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan or contact via secure email at the address lucasnolan@protonmail.com
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