Hundreds of Amazon warehouse workers to call in sick in coronavirus protest
Hundreds of Amazon warehouse workers across the US will refuse to show up for work this week by calling in sick, marking the largest nationwide protest effort so far against the company’s coronavirus response.
Starting on Tuesday, more than 300 Amazon employees have pledged to stay home from work, according to worker rights group United for Respect, as frustrations mount over protections and support for Amazon employees. Workers claim the company has failed to provide enough face masks for workers, did not implement regular temperature checks it promised at warehouses, and has refused to give workers paid sick leave.
“We are calling out because Amazon is putting its revenue above our safety,” Jaylen Camp, an Amazon worker at a fulfillment center in Romulus, Michigan, and a member of United for Respect told the Guardian. “We are not essential to them – they just think of us as numbers and quotas. They are not protecting our health.”
Protesting employees say they will continue to call in sick until Amazon makes safety-related changes at warehouses. The action comes as Amazon is set to announce what are expected to be record high quarterly earnings results.
Workers in more than 130 warehouses around the country have contracted Covid-19, according to numbers from United for Respect, with some warehouses reporting more than 30 confirmed cases.
The workers are calling on Amazon to “immediately close down” any facilities with Covid-19 cases and provide testing and two weeks of pay for workers during that time. Amazon has promised to pay workers who have been diagnosed with Covid-19 or are showing symptoms of the virus, but workers say it has been difficult to actually receive paid sick time, and some have been coming to work with fevers, United for Respect said.
They are also demanding paid sick leave and asking Amazon commit not to retaliate against associates who speak out. Workers are also requesting the elimination of quotas that require employees to scan a certain number of items and pack a certain number of boxes per hour. Even as Amazon requires workers to wash hands for 20 seconds after sneezing or using the restroom, Camp and other workers say these quotas leave little time to wash hands and keep safe on the job.
Amazon has been cracking down on employee organizing in recent months. This month, workers have walked off the job in New York, Illinois and Michigan in protest. One worker who led the protest in New York was fired for his actions. The company also fired two white-collar workers this month for denouncing the Amazon’s treatment of warehouse workers.
A report published on Monday by Business Insider revealed that Whole Foods, the Amazon-owned grocery store, has been tracking employees and their likelihood to unionize in an attempt to discourage organizing.
Camp said he initially avoided participating in protests out of fear of retaliation, butchanged his mind in recent weeks.
“Something has to be said about what is going on”, he said. “If we don’t do anything we are going to keep being treated as numbers, pie charts and dividends instead of people.”
Amazon previously told the Guardian it terminated the employees in question for violating internal policies. A spokeswoman told the Guardian that Amazon has increased frequency of cleaning in warehouses in light of coronavirus and is encouraging social distancing.
Rachael Lighty, an Amazon spokesperson told the Guardian that the protesters’ accusations that Amazon is not taking enough safety measures were “unfounded”.
“Nothing is more important than the safety of our teams,” she said. “Our employees are heroes fighting for their communities and helping people get critical items they need in this crisis.”
Another spokeswoman at Amazon noted that employees who are proven to have a fever of more than 100.4F will be sent home from their shift and paid for up to five hours of their scheduled shift that day.
Workers with United for Respect say this policy has led many employees to take Tylenol and other fever-suppressing medication so they can continue to work and not miss out on paychecks.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has opened an investigation into a Pennsylvania warehouse over worker complaints there, and the Kentucky governor, Andy Beshear, temporarily shut down a warehouse in the state after a spate of positive cases.