Amazon, Whole Foods, Instacart workers will strike Friday to protest working conditions

Workers at some of America’s most well-known companies including Amazon, Whole Foods, Instacart and Target plan to strike on Friday, International Workers’ Day, citing working conditions during the coronavirus pandemic.

During their lunch breaks, employees will either call out sick or walk off the job to protest what they say are record profits for their employers made at the cost of workers’ safety and health, The Intercept reported.

Organizers of what’s been dubbed the May Day General Strike also shared a flyer to social media calling on customers to boycott the companies and to “support essential workers.”

One such post has been liked more than 12,000 times and shared more than 9,000 times.

Why are workers striking?

Workers say their employers haven’t done enough to protect them from exposure to the virus.

“Because of the failings of our employers, many of our fellow employees have contracted this deadly virus and some have died,” organizers wrote in a press release obtained by The Hill. “Although there have been some changes in company policies, they are not enough to adequately protect us.”

A representative for Amazon, one of the companies named by organizers, told the outlet that fever checks, increased pay and protective equipment are already “standard” throughout Amazon and Whole Foods Market locations, The Hill reported.

Amazon also objects “to the irresponsible actions of labor groups in spreading misinformation and making false claims about Amazon during this unprecedented health and economic crisis,” the representative said, according to the outlet.

Protest organizers and workers have also said that Amazon, specifically, has been tight-lipped about the number of coronavirus cases at its more than 175 fulfillment centers across the globe, The Intercept reported.

Jana Jumpp, an Amazon employee in Indiana, said she and a small group of fellow employees have counted 500 coronavirus cases in 125 Amazon facilities using sourcing such as screenshots of internal company texts and voicemails to employees, according to the outlet. Jumpp said she suspects the total is actually much higher.

Amazon would not comment on the numbers compiled by Jumpp and her team, The Intercept reported.

History of coronavirus-related strikes

The May Day General Strike is the latest in a string of worker protests sparked by the coronavirus pandemic.

Instacart workers first walked off the job on March 30, claiming that the company had ignored shoppers’ requests for more safety precautions during the pandemic, Today reported.

Ultimately, Instacart agreed it would provide full-service shoppers with health and safety kits that included hand sanitizer, a thermometer and a reusable cloth mask, The Verge reported.

Chris Smalls, a lead organizer of the May Day General Strike, staged a walkout at an Amazon fulfillment center on Staten Island, New York, on March 31 over coronavirus safety concerns, Vice reported, and he was later fired.

In a statement to McClatchy News, Amazon said, “We terminated his employment for putting the health and safety of others at risk and violations of his terms of his employment. Mr. Smalls received multiple warnings for violating social distancing guidelines.”

Two workers at the warehouse had tested positive for the coronavirus, and workers walked off the job to try to convince Amazon to shut down the facility to be sanitized, with workers receiving full pay during the closure, according to Vice.

Workers for Shipt, a delivery service owned by Target, organized a walkout in early April over coronavirus safety concerns, demanding $5 hazard pay per order, personal protective equipment and an additional 14 days of sick leave for all workers, Vice reported.

Target ultimately said it would provide masks and gloves to Shipt shoppers and Target employees before every shift.

This story was originally published April 30, 2020 at 10:07 AM.