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Because of a lack of safety and health standards, workers from several major companies plan to walk out on Friday.
Those companies include Amazon, Walmart, FedEx, and more. The workers are demanding hazard pay for working during the coronavirus lockdown.
On Tuesday The Intercept reported there is one big reason the employees are planning the walkout. It is because of their employers making major profits while the employees risk their health.
The employees don’t feel safe on the job and don’t feel protected. A press release says that the employees plan to call out sick. Some plan to walk off the job during their lunch break. Rank-and-file union members are expected to also join the walkout in some places.
Daniel Steinbrook, a Whole Foods employee, spoke to The Intercept about their plans.
“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,” said Steinbrook.
The Hill has reported that the “strikes slated for Friday are one of many fronts led by union and nonunion workers amid the pandemic, as Instacart workers previously organized a strike in late March, along with several other demonstrations from Amazon and Whole Foods workers around the same time.”
At a time where people are relying on telehealth telemedicine to avoid even seeing a doctor, it is easy to see why workers are going through such lengths to stay protected.
Related: Amazon Halts Warehouse Shipments Amid Coronavirus Outbreak
Jana Jumpp is an Indiana Amazon employee. She told The Intercept that she and a few of her coworkers had compiled a tally of Amazon workers who have contracted COVID-19.
What they found were 500 cases across 125 Amazon facilities. She suggested the number may be higher. This is because 500 cases were confirmed only through internal company communications and on Facebook.
So far, Amazon has not confirmed or denied those numbers.
“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 during this unprecedented health and economic crisis,” said Rachael Lighty, an Amazon spokesperson.
“We have gone to extreme measures to understand and address this pandemic,” said Lighty.
The new walkout follows a strike that Amazon employees organized last month. A former Amazon employee, Christian Smalls, was later fired after organizing the strike, and for ignoring “multiple warnings for violating social distancing guidelines,” according to Amazon.
“Despite that instruction to stay home with pay, he came onsite today, March 30, further putting the teams at risk,” said an Amazon spokesperson to CNBC.
“This is unacceptable and we have terminated his employment as a result of these multiple safety issues,” said the spokesperson.
Related: Amazon Robots to Replace Packing Jobs, Wants to Pay Workers to Quit
