Some Amazon Workers May Disrupt Prime Day to Protest Working Conditions
Monday, July 15, 2019
Some Amazon warehouse employees are planning a strike on Prime Day.
A six-hour strike is being planned for July 15, the first of two days the sale is being held on. It is one of over 100 warehouses located in the U.S. that is owned by the e-commerce giant.
This is the first known strike during a big shopping event at an Amazon center in the U.S. At their counterparts in Europe, strikes by Amazon workers are much more common.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTAccording to organizers, the strike in Minnesota is over unsafe working conditions. It is also due to Amazon failing a request of turning more temporary workers into full-time employees.
According to 24/7 Wall Street, "some who work in Amazon warehouses believe that they are overworked due to high quotas and endangered by lax safety features. For example, Hibaq Mohamed has worked at the Amazon fulfillment center since 2016 and told Forbes, 'We’re forced to work like machines.' Mohamed is an immigrant from Kenya who has worked at the Amazon fulfillment center in Shakopee, MN since she arrived in the United States. 'I see it as abuse.' Amazon says that this claim, one of the many complaints about working at Amazon facilities, is baseless. Workers at Amazon’s center in Shakopee have planned stop work for four hours during Prime Day."
