- A coalition of workers from
Amazon ,Walmart ,FedEx ,Target , Instacart, andWhole Foods are going on strike Friday to protest working conditions during thecoronavirus pandemic, as first reported by The Intercept. - The workers say their employers, all of which have stayed open during the pandemic as "essential" businesses, have seen profits skyrocket at the expense of their health and safety.
- Workers from several of the companies have previously organized walkouts or publicly criticized their companies' efforts to protect them from
COVID-19 , but the coalition is unprecedented. - Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
Workers from Walmart, FedEx, Target, Instacart, Amazon, and Amazon subsidiary 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.
An unprecedented coalition of employees and gig workers in at least half a dozen states plan to call in sick or walk of their jobs during their lunch break on Friday, International Workers' Day, according to The Intercept.
According to The Intercept, the workers are making a range of demands, including: backpay for unpaid time off they've used since the beginning of March; hazard pay or paid sick leave for the remainder of the pandemic; the companies to provide 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 during the coronavirus pandemic.
"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 following 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.
—Christian Smalls (@Shut_downAmazon) April 22, 2020
The protests come as essential workers are increasingly speaking out about 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, Italy, and virtually after colleagues 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 which have seen outbreaks of the disease.
Amazon has defended conditions in its warehouses, telling Business Insider in a previous statement that it has ramped up cleaning efforts and is enforcing social distancing.
The company is now also facing multiple inquiries from the National Labor Relations Board about whether it unlawfully retaliated against workers who spoke out, as well as an investigation brought by New York City's human rights commissioner concerning the same issue.
"We respect the rights of employees to protest and recognize their legal right to do so, but these rights do not provide blanket immunity against bad actions, particularly those that endanger the health, well-being or safety of their colleagues," an Amazon spokeswoman told Business Insider in a previous statement.
In March, more than 10,000 Instacart grocery shoppers went on strike to demand hazard pay and safety equipment, with some eventually calling the company's response, which met some but not all of their demands, "insulting" and "a sick joke."
"Our team has been diligently working to offer new policies, guidelines, product features, resources, increased bonuses, and personal protective equipment to ensure the health and safety of shoppers during this critical time. We welcome all feedback from shoppers, and we will continue to enhance their experience and ensure this important community is supported," a spokeswoman from Instacart told Business Insider.
Also in March, Whole Foods workers across the country called in sick and asked for better sick pay policies and free coronavirus testing, and were joined by workers from Amazon and Instacart.
Amazon, FedEx, Target, and Whole Foods did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Read the original article on Business Insider