Amazon warehouse workers across the country started a sick-out Tuesday to protest working conditions they say risks exposing them to the coronavirus.
United for Respect, a workers’ rights group, organized the protest because Amazon “unnecessarily put the lives of Amazon employees at increased risk and exposure” to COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus. More than 300 of the thousands of Amazon employees working in 50 facilities signed up for the protests, according to CNBC.
“There are now over 130 warehouses where employees have contracted COVID-19 including some warehouses with over 30 confirmed cases because of Amazon’s inaction,” wrote United for Respect on its website encouraging Amazon workers to call out sick. “Nationwide, we have been and will continue to call out sick until Amazon makes the necessary changes to put our health and safety first.”
Amazon said the protests paled in comparison to the hundreds of thousands of workers who arrived for work on Tuesday.
The sick-out is part of a nationwide push by labor organizers to secure worker protections and benefits related to the coronavirus pandemic.
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka on Tuesday outlined labor unions’ demands for safely returning to work, including a massive deployment of personal protective equipment in workplaces and a big increase in “rapid and reliable” testing.
He warned against lifting stay-at-home orders too soon.
“President Trump made this crisis worse,” said Mr. Trumka, the head of the nation’s largest labor federation. “Instead of science, he’s chosen politics. Instead of unity, he’s chosen division. And now he wants us to trust him with our lives and our livelihood. The answer is, we can’t. There’s too much at stake.”
The National Nurses United led a protest outside the White House demanding the Trump administration ensure that every health care worker is provided with personal protective equipment.
The 150,000-member nurses union previously led protests outside HCA hospitals in Florida, North Carolina and Texas. An HCA Healthcare spokesman said at the time that the nurses union was using the coronavirus crisis to organize more members.
Meanwhile, Boeing reopened its aircraft plants Monday, putting tens of thousands of workers back on its assembly lines.
The Amazon protesters want the company to adopt measures such as notifying workers when someone tests positive for coronavirus, regularly deep cleaning all facilities, offering additional paid sick leave for workers and drivers, and providing healthcare for everyone working with or contracted by Amazon, among other requests.
Amazon spokeswoman Rachel Lighty said Amazon “couldn’t be more grateful and proud” of the workers who continued working this week.
“The union organizers’ claims are also simply false — what’s true is that masks, temperature checks, hand sanitizer, increased time off, increased pay, and more are standard across our network because we care deeply about the health and safety of our employees,” she said. “We encourage anyone to compare the health and safety measures Amazon has taken, and the speed of their implementation, during this crisis with other retailers.”
United for Respect is leading coronavirus-related activism aimed at politicians too, working with People for the American Way, Daily Kos and other liberal groups to push Congress to adopt paid sick leave for every American worker. The coalition has gathered more than 100,000 signatures urging federal lawmakers to provide such relief in future coronavirus-related legislation.
• Dave Boyer contributed to this report.
• Ryan Lovelace can be reached at rlovelace@washingtontimes.com.
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