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Article

7 Apr 2020

Author:
Amy Goodman & Juan Gonzalez, Democracy Now

Amazon “profiting from this pandemic” as warehouse workers walk off job to demand safer conditions

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Just a week after Amazon fired a worker who led a walkout, workers at the same Staten Island warehouse walked off the job again Monday to protest unsafe working conditions as online orders soar during the pandemic... Angeles Solis, lead organizer at Make the Road New York [said]..."Our members walked out last Monday because of the report of 10 positive cases in the facility. This Monday, yesterday, over 60 workers walked out again, because they are nearing 30 positive cases and Amazon has not done enough to institute safety protections, health protections, ensure sick leave for individuals who are not just showing symptoms but also have not tested positive... if we don’t call on Amazon to put their billions towards protecting their workers and limiting the spread of COVID-19 in the supply chain, they are not only profiting from this pandemic, but they’re helping to perpetuate it. The virus has been shown to survive on cardboard, so we are talking about protections for the workers from the warehouse through the delivery chain."

... "There is a reason that Amazon has been named one of the most dangerous workplaces in America by the national Occupational Health and Safety Administration. And it is because when workers speak up about dangerous conditions on their job, Amazon swiftly suppresses worker organizing, cuts corners and ensures that workers do not have the ability to speak up on the job safely without feeling intimidated."

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