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Even Amazon’s Office Workers Are Protesting How It’s Handling the Coronavirus in Warehouses
The company’s internal uprising is unusual in uniting a spectrum of workers
On Friday, Amazon technology employees will be staging a “virtual” sick-out (remote corporate workers won’t be signing in for the day) to protest the company’s handling of the coronavirus safety measures at fulfillment centers. The action is planned by Amazon Employees for Climate Justice and is also a response to Amazon’s firing of two employees last Tuesday for publicly denouncing its actions around Covid-19.
Several months into the coronavirus crisis, Amazon has solidified its “essential” status as much of the world relies on delivery services for everything from food to exercise bikes. At the same time, the e-commerce giant has made it clear that it considers hundreds of thousands of warehouse employees expendable by actively subverting their demands for better working conditions.
As OneZero reported in March, Amazon has encouraged its salaried tech employees to work remotely in Seattle while sending gig workers out onto the front lines with zero protections or safety net. (The company later announced that drivers diagnosed with Covid-19 or placed into self-quarantine could apply for a grant to be compensated for…
