ALEXA, SAVE US!
Amazon workers on S.I. walk out over bug fear
Caught between losing their jobs or catching the coronavirus, dozens of terrified Amazon workers walked off their shifts Monday at the massive Staten Island warehouse that many are comparing to a petri dish.
Only two cases of COVID-19 from the warehouse have been publicly confirmed to the media, but workers say there are at least 10. And they say the company has not been delivering transparency — only notifying them by text of the second confirmed case. That person was at work as recently as March 24.
While hundreds of workers were slated to join the protest, far fewer ended up walking out. Other employees said the low participation was because people are afraid of losing their jobs.
Hours after the protest, the shipping behemoth confirmed it had fired one of the organizers — Christian Smalls, who has spoken to several media outlets about conditions at the site.
The reason, according to Amazon spokeswoman Kristen Kish, was for showing up at the warehouse Monday even though he was quarantined for 14 days with pay after having close contact with another worker who had tested positive.
“Mr. Smalls received multiple warnings for violating social-distancing guidelines and putting the safety of others at risk,” Kish said Monday night.
The firing drew a swift rebuke from the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, which promoted Monday’s walkout.
“Workers should be protected when speaking out about safety conditions during this crisis. They are performing a public service,” union President Stuart
Appelbaum said. “It is unacceptable that Amazon has terminated Chris Smalls for doing that today rather than addressing their serious COVID-19 safety problems.”
By Monday night, state Attorney General Letitia James called on the National Labor Relations Board to look into the firing.
“In the midst of a pandemic, Chris Smalls & his colleagues bravely protested the lack of precautions that @amazon employed to protect them from #COVID19. Then he was fired. I’m considering all legal options & calling on the NLRB to investigate. Amazon, this is disgraceful,” James wrote on Twitter.
Smalls, who helped organized the walkout, did not immediately return a message seeking comment Monday night.
“Amazon has ways of keeping associates working,” said Derrick Palmer, 31. Palmer, a warehouse worker for more than four years, urged fellow workers to join the protest. “You have kids, families. Walk out!” Palmer shouted. “Don’t take their lives in your hands.”
Employee Jordan Flowers, 21, felt the same way, holding a sign that read, “Treat your workers like your customers.”
“We just need a shutdown for two weeks for cleaning,” Flowers said. “We’re going to be the first Amazon warehouse in the United States to have more than 10 cases.”
An Amazon spokeswoman, Rachael Lighty, said the accusations are “simply unfounded.”
Guiselle Diaz, 23, has been working at the facility for eight months, but has stayed away for several weeks because she has asthma and lives with an elderly person. “I just don’t want to risk it at all,” she said. “I had to use some of my own vacation time in order to get a paycheck last week, but otherwise I’m not getting paid.”