Amazon employees at a warehouse in Staten Island, New York, walked out in protest over workplace conditions as the coronavirus continues to tear through the state.
Workers at the JFK8 fulfillment center were filmed pouring out of the building to draw attention to what they say are unsafe working conditions during the pandemic. Nearly 100 employees participated in the walkout, which took place at noon.
Chris Smalls, a lead organizer for the walkout, said employees have felt unsafe at work since discovering that a colleague tested positive for COVID-19 last week. Amazon alerted the staff and told anyone with prolonged contact with the employee to take paid leave from work.
“We are following all guidelines from local health officials and are taking extreme measures to ensure the safety of employees at our site,” the company told CNBC.
Smalls said the announcement was not enough. He and his fellow employees called for the facility to shut down for a thorough cleaning to prevent the virus from spreading like “wildfire.” They also demanded employees be paid during the cleaning shutdown.
“Since the building won’t close by itself, we’re going to have to force [Amazon’s] hand,” Smalls said. “We will not return until the building gets sanitized.”
.@amazon employees at JFK8 fulfillment center on Staten Island, walk out to call on the company to protect employees #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/gjoDgYfX72
— Myles Miller (@MylesMill) March 30, 2020
Amazon refuted Smalls’s claims of unsafe conditions and noted that he has been on paid leave since the first case was discovered.
“We have heard a number of incorrect comments from Christian Smalls, the hourly associate claiming to be the spokesperson on this topic,” the company said. “Mr. Smalls is alleging many misleading things in his statements, but we believe it’s important to note that he is, in fact, on a 14-day self-quarantine requested by Amazon to stay home with full pay.”
Smalls’s frustrations with Amazon are rippling through the company. Employees of Whole Foods, a grocery chain owned by Amazon, are planning a “sick-out” on Tuesday, during which all employees will call out of work sick in protest.
The employees are demanding paid leave for workers who test positive for COVID-19, free coronavirus testing, and hazard pay for hourly workers. The hazard pay would be double the employee’s current rate. The company already gave workers a $2 pay raise when the outbreak in the United States first started.
“Since we first announced the intent to do a sick-out, Whole Foods announced a temporary raise of $2 an hour, which isn’t enough. A bunch of us have already gotten sick. It’s very plausible that some of us will die for this job,” one worker said, according to a report from Vice.
The New York facility is one of several Amazon warehouses to have employees with confirmed cases of the coronavirus. The company has implemented many measures to mitigate the spread, including temperature testing, contact tracing, and alternative shifts to ensure breaks and lunches are not taken all at once.
Amazon is one of a few companies thriving during the pandemic. The company announced that it would be hiring 100,000 additional employees to meet “unprecedented” delivery demands.
New York has one of the largest coronavirus outbreaks on the planet. As of Monday, the state had more than 59,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and 965 related deaths.
