Amazon Prime Day brings deals, protests
NEW YORK — Amazon’s Prime Day is coming with a wave of deals — and protests.
The company’s fifth annual Prime Day, which started Monday and stretches into Tuesday, was created as an effort to try to drum up sales during sluggish summer months and sign up more users for its Prime loyalty program.
The Seattle-based e-commerce behemoth said it is offering more than a million deals. Amazon’s own products are usually among the strongest sellers.
This year, some used the highprofile event as a way to garner attention for their protests against Amazon.
At a warehouse in Shakopee, Minnesota, workers staged a strike to raise awareness for workers’ conditions. A group of tech workers in Seattle, called Amazon Employees for Climate Justice, is supporting the strike.
On Twitter, Massachusetts senator and presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren voiced her support for the workers as well.
Amazon says it already offers what the workers are asking for.
“We provide great employment opportunities with excellent pay — ranging from $16.25-$20.80 an hour, and comprehensive benefits including health care, up to 20 weeks parental leave, paid education, promotional opportunities, and more,” spokeswoman Brenda Alfred said in a statement in response to the planned strike.
The company has faced labor unrest before in Shakopee and in Europe.
In New York, a coalition of labor groups planned to deliver 250,000 petitions to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ Manhattan home calling on the company to cut business ties with ICE and end abusive working conditions in its warehouses.
And some on Twitter called for a blanket boycott of Amazon during Prime Day.