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Workers from Amazon, Instacart, and Others Are Calling in Sick To Protest Poor Virus Protections (theverge.com) 129

Posted by msmash from the worker's-day dept.
On May 1st, workers from Amazon, Whole Foods, Instacart, FedEx, Target, and Walmart joined together in a series of work stoppages to protest conditions and equipment in the face of the ongoing coronavirus outbreak. From a report: The actions have been organized by a range of groups within the various companies, but are timed to coincide with International Workers' Day. The groups are encouraging customers to boycott the stores and services for the duration of the day. Organizers at Amazon said thousands of employees are participating in the actions nationwide. The groups are calling for better practices and equipment to protect frontline workers from contracting the disease at work. Specifics of those protections vary between companies and jobs: Instacart workers are calling for better distribution of personal protective equipment (or PPE), while Whole Foods workers are calling for locations with positive cases to be shut down for 14 days.
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Workers from Amazon, Instacart, and Others Are Calling in Sick To Protest Poor Virus Protections More

Workers from Amazon, Instacart, and Others Are Calling in Sick To Protest Poor Virus Protections

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  • old-fashioned labor organization. (Score:4, Interesting)

    by XXongo ( 3986865 ) on Friday May 01, 2020 @09:43AM (#60010846) Homepage

    Nice to see some old-fashioned labor organization.

    Yes, if their working conditions are unsafe, they should strike. Having a job should not mean risking your life and health.

    • Re: (Score:2, Troll)

      by jellomizer ( 103300 )

      I am normally Anti-Union (As my experience they normally create a poor work environment because employees need to find a way to suck up the Union and to their normal Bosses). However, for cases where job health and safety for the employees is concerned organized labor with strikes and slowdowns is important.

      We work for a living. If our work needlessly risks our lives, this isn't working for a living.

       

      • I am normally Anti-Union (As my experience they normally create a poor work environment because employees need to find a way to suck up the Union and to their normal Bosses). However, for cases where job health and safety for the employees is concerned organized labor with strikes and slowdowns is important.

        We work for a living. If our work needlessly risks our lives, this isn't working for a living.

        If their working conditions are unsafe, and not being properly addressed by their employers, then I agree with you. But I don't have any way of personally knowing if the accusations are true.

        • >But I don't have any way of personally knowing if the accusations are true.

          Why don't you get a "real man job" and see how it is first hand?

      • This has little to nothing to do with unions, at least in the formal sense. Target employees are not unionized; Amazon is staunchly anti-union. Instacart, Whole Foods, Walmart, are all anti-union as well. The only employer I see on that list who has any union presence that I know of is FedEx.

      • Pre-union working environments were even worse, as workers had to find a way to suck up to management while also being forced to work in unsafe conditions for excessive hours at low pay. Unions came into existence for a reason.

        • Re: (Score:3)

          by Xenx ( 2211586 )
          Yes, unions were the starting point for worker rights. Ostensibly, our labor laws should perform the task adequately enough that we don't need unions. I think unions are still needed in some cases, when it comes to job tasks and environments that are specialized. But, in all honesty, we shouldn't need unions for grocery stores and warehouses. We need better labor laws that adequately and fairly protect the employees and employers.

          • >Ostensibly, our labor laws should perform the task adequately enough that we don't need unions.

            Idiot. Moron. I'm calling names. Pussy.

            In order to use most worker protections you'd better be prepared to sue. You think a working joe can pull that off?
            Would you even give a shit?
            I know nobody who has a good job and who has worked hard in the past who keeps such attitudes. Only silver spook cake eating doughboys and brainwashed idiots who stay in shitty jobs their whole lives.

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by Xenx ( 2211586 )
              Do you know what the word "ostensibly" even means? Use your head if you can, if you can't then shut up.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by shanen ( 462549 )

        I am normally Anti-Union (As my experience they normally create a poor work environment because employees need to find a way to suck up the Union and to their normal Bosses). However, for cases where job health and safety for the employees is concerned organized labor with strikes and slowdowns is important.

        We work for a living. If our work needlessly risks our lives, this isn't working for a living.

        Apparently needs to be quoted against the trolls with mod points?

        Anyway, my take is somewhat different. I think the best equilibrium point needs to consider the interests of employees, too. The customers have a pretty strong voice because they can buy or boycott the product, and management has a strong bargaining position (even when they are lying about "serving" the shareholders), but individual workers have no leverage at all. Too easy to replace any one worker. Therefore if the company is going to approa

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by GFNV ( 5431198 )
      I thought I heard there were 30 million other people willing to take those Amazon jobs. The real problem here is the lack of the availability of N95 masks, which I assume is the PPE that workers want (need). But right now those masks are being designated to healthcare workers who are working with confirmed patients not your delivery drivers. There are many healthcare workers who are unfortunately using the homemade masks. What needs to happen if it's not happening already is defense production of PPE.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by dgatwood ( 11270 )

        The real problem here is the lack of the availability of N95 masks, which I assume is the PPE that workers want (need). But right now those masks are being designated to healthcare workers who are working with confirmed patients not your delivery drivers.

        Yes, and IMO, that's probably a mistake. Healthcare companies have the ability to sanitize and reuse masks. But no amount of mask reuse will provide masks for people who don't have access to them at all.

        People who interact with and share air with large numbers of people — cashiers, bus drivers, etc. on a regular basis need N95-grade masks *now*. One mask apiece for those workers eliminates multiple masks apiece when those same people end up in the hospital later.

        So in all likelihood, the best way t

        • Most aerosol infections occur through the eye balls, not the nose or mouth. Unless you're wearing swim goggles the mask is useless as infection protection.

          It's only useful if everybody else is wearing one, so they're prevented from exhaling their own infection. Unless they wear masks with an exhale valve, in which case it's also useless.

    • That was interesting? Really?

      Actually, "old-fashioned" should make you think of meat packing and "The Jungle" by Upton Sinclair, which was published more than a century ago. I was quite surprised Tyson didn't get mentioned in the summary or in the story. Yeah, Amazon is a terrible corporate cancer and I stopped shopping there almost 20 years ago, but old-fashioned Tyson is MUCH worse. Literally butchers.

      So yeah, I agree that companies should not abuse and sicken their employees for profit, but I think Tyson

  • Can't blame them... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by ewhenn ( 647989 ) on Friday May 01, 2020 @09:46AM (#60010870)
    Can't blame them, these remote services companies are making a fortune with the boom in demand for their services. They can afford to provide proper protection for their workers. Location shutdowns of grocery stores for 14 days might be a bit much - perhaps a 1 days closure as you can properly sanitize with bleach, etc. However providing proper PPE shouldn't be an ask, it should be a mandate... a mandate as in you provide it to your employees or your business can't operate.

    • However providing proper PPE shouldn't be an ask, it should be a mandate

      From what I can surmise, it isn't so much the companies not wanting to provide PPE...but more. that there is still a SCARCITY of PPE to begin with...and what there is out there, is going to the medical providers that really need it the most...?

      • They can still provide more space to keep workers separated, require the use of gloves and (simple) masks, and allow workers who are sick to take time off without docking their pay or losing their job.

        • Unskilled use of gloves actually makes the problem worse. People who aren't trained to use gloves tend to just keep wearing them and spread contamination around. Plus if you take them off the wrong way you will actually contaminate yourself in the process. If you watch in a medical setting they put gloves on, do something, take them off, then put on new gloves constantly. Most people walking around with gloves right now are using them wrongly and likely contaminating everything. Being related to multip

        • They can still provide more space to keep workers separated, require the use of gloves and (simple) masks, and allow workers who are sick to take time off without docking their pay or losing their job.

          There was a post earlier from someone that works at one of the larger Amazon warehouses, and he said that they largely do just that...tesing for temp when you come in, they stagger the breaks now, they have gloves (I think makes too?)...and that no one there is making under $18/hr...they gave $2 raises across

    • Can't blame them, these remote services companies are making a fortune with the boom in demand for their services

      Are they [slashdot.org]?

  • Really considerate of them to walk away from their jobs and create job openings for some of the millions of individuals who've lost their jobs.

  • Fuck these entitled bitches (Score:1, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward

    Amazon figures it's going to be wiped out on it's Q2 earnings paying for COVID-19 protection [theverge.com]

    That's more than enough. Anyone who's complaining just doesn't want to work and should be fired. There's no shortage of people willing to go in and do those jobs.

    • Re: (Score:2, Troll)

      by XXongo ( 3986865 )

      (link to www.theverge.com) Amazon figures it's going to be wiped out on it's Q2 earnings paying for COVID-19 protection

      Yes, that's undoubtably why Amazon stock jumped from 1689 on the day the president issued the coronavirus guidelines for America advising people to stay at home, to 2292 today.

      ...in case you missed the sarcasm: No, Amazon is not "being wiped out" by their increase in business due to the shutdown. Jeff Bezos, previously the second wealthiest man in the world, has become the wealthiest man in the world due to all the business Amazon is getting

      That's more than enough. Anyone who's complaining just doesn't want to work and should be fired. There's no shortage of people willing to go in and do those jobs.

      This statement shows exactly why people have so much contempt fo

  • The Alternative (Score:2, Interesting)

    by CubicleZombie ( 2590497 )

    My client shut down completely over a month ago, let go of all contractors and furloughed all employees. Thousands of people out of work.

    So if they don't like the working conditions, then quit. At least they have the choice. I didn't.

    • Or you try and fix the conditions on the inside.

      I prefer the latter.

      • Money doesnt grow on trees for businesses either. Some just barely get by, most businesses that make alot of money also require alot of money to make changes or provide solutions (which are very hard to find atm). No it isnt impossible but it isn't happening either.
        "Don't bite the hand that feeds you"

        • Something that really bothers me about my client folding (besides being unemployed) is that they folded not even 2 months into the Wuflu. A major international corporation that was basically living paycheck to paycheck. They were throwing huge parties at headquarters in January. In March they shut down. Any individual who lived like that would be called irresponsible.

        • Re: (Score:1)

          by ranton ( 36917 )

          Money doesnt grow on trees for businesses either. Some just barely get by, most businesses that make alot of money also require alot of money to make changes or provide solutions (which are very hard to find atm). No it isnt impossible but it isn't happening either.
          "Don't bite the hand that feeds you"

          We are talking about Amazon here, one of the most valuable companies in the world. And their share value has risen during this crisis (barely), so they would have access to whatever funds they needed. Amazon has enough cash on hand today to give each of their employees $100,000, and could probably easily raise enough cash to give them each another $100k. Not to say that is what they should do, but it should clearly show a lack of funds doesn't play into their decision process at all.

          Amazon doesn't make any

        • Amazon isn't exactly "small business." And yes, I agree with you. I've been trying to, and will continue to support my local businesses since this whole thing started. Their workers aren't protesting.

        • Right, money doesn't grow on trees, so we're going to cut everyone's pay in half to help increase our profits. Anyone not cheering wildly at this announcement should sign up for an appointment with HR.

          Yes.. Bite the hand that feeds you if it keeps slapping you. We are not a nation of slaves, and having reasonable working conditions is not an unreasonable demand from free workers.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by mspohr ( 589790 )

      Not really a choice if you have to work under dangerous conditions to provide yourself with housing and food. More like slave labor.

    • More economic activity ground to dust under the iron boot of the Covid Rouge.

  • If you're afraid that your employer is putting your health at risk and they aren't listening to your complaints then you need to quit.

    Of course, today in the US there are probably about 20 million people willing to still take that job.

    This doesn't relieve employers from doing basic things to allow people to be safer, but safety is ALWAYS a compromise* between a number of competing factors. What the union says they MUST have isn't always commercially feasible - particularly now if you have businesses that a

    • Comment removed based on user account deletion

      • That's what I thought. $300,000 says it does. (Score:5, Insightful)

        by raymorris ( 2726007 ) on Friday May 01, 2020 @10:24AM (#60011098) Journal

        > living paycheck to paycheck and don't have enough coming in to make serious savings (no, forgoing a $50 a month cable bill isn't going to make any difference)

        That's what I thought. Still, the fact that I made more than 90% of the world does, yet I was still broke, gnawed at me. Then I learned that most millionaires never made more than $100K in a year. Yet they're millionaires.

        I made a written zero-based budget and cut down my cable bill, I spent less on eating out (including $6 fast food sandwiches), cutting $10 here and $20 there. I'm not about $300,000 better off than I was. Mostly by making a lot of $10-$100 decisions, based on my written budget.

        "It isn't going to make any difference", yet I've gotten rid of a pile of debt and now I have a pile of cash instead. I'm really not sure how that happened.

        I guess $20/day for 1,000 days is $20,000.

        • My accidentally wrote "not $300,000 better off". That should be "now $300,000 better off".

          Egg and cheese breakfast sandwich from Whataburger - $4 including tax.
          Egg cheese breakfast sandwich from home - less than $1.
          Cutting all of those little expenses by 50% - 75% actually matters - whether or not I thought it would.

          As a bonus, saved / invested money grows exponentially.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by XXongo ( 3986865 )

            ...I made a written zero-based budget and cut down my cable bill, I spent less on eating out (including $6 fast food sandwiches), cutting $10 here and $20 there. I'm not about $300,000 better off than I was. Mostly by making a lot of $10-$100 decisions...

            My accidentally wrote "not $300,000 better off". That should be "now $300,000 better off".

            The annual earnings for a full-time minimum-wage worker is $15,080 at the current federal minimum wage. If your "cutting $10 here and $20 there" saved HALF of that, (and I seriously doubt you could) it would take 40 years to become "$300,000 better off".

            • > federal minimum wage. If your "cutting $10 here and $20 there" saved HALF of that, (and I seriously doubt you could) it would take 40 years

              Hopefully it doesn't take you 40 years to graduate high school.
              Or to notice that even the local gas station and supermarket pays twice the federal minimum wage.

              It's true, though, that if you're too stoned to even bag groceries, you probably won't be a millionaire until you set the bong down long enough to actually show up at work.

              https://www.salary.com/researc... [salary.com]

            • The annual earnings for a full-time minimum-wage worker is $15,080 at the current federal minimum wage. If your "cutting $10 here and $20 there" saved HALF of that, (and I seriously doubt you could) it would take 40 years to become "$300,000 better off".

              Minimum wage workers make up a tiny percentage of the work force and they tend to be young and inexperienced. If you know someone who works for the minimum wage for 40 years, it is their fault they never advanced, not anyone else.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by ranton ( 36917 )

          living paycheck to paycheck and don't have enough coming in to make serious savings (no, forgoing a $50 a month cable bill isn't going to make any difference)

          That's what I thought. Still, the fact that I made more than 90% of the world does, yet I was still broke, gnawed at me. Then I learned that most millionaires never made more than $100K in a year. Yet they're millionaires.

          I'm not really sure what that has to do with this conversation, since the average millionaire is 62 years old. Anyone who brings up that most millionaires are middle class ignores the fact that the average millionaire isn't a millionaire until a few years before retirement.

          The average millionaire is someone who starts saving maybe a thousand a year sometime in their 20's, and by their 60's is saving $10-20k per year to reach a million in savings by their late 60's (all of these figures being inflation adjus

          • > Anyone who brings up that most millionaires are middle class ignores the fact that the average millionaire isn't a millionaire until a few years before retirement.

            I'm not ignoring that at all. I'm looking forward to it. If your job makes $70,000 and your savings makes $100,000 / year (on average), what would YOU do? Well yeah people retire when their savings makes significantly more than their job does. Why keep working at that point?

            > The average millionaire is someone who starts saving maybe a t

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by ranton ( 36917 )

              Shit happens. To all of us. Cars break down. All of them do eventually. If you save up $1,000 BEFORE your car breaks down, then you spend $400 of that getting the car fixed.

              Almost all of the savings of your average millionaire are in retirement accounts, so while they may have saved up $30k in their 401k that doesn't mean they have it available when their car breaks down. Or when they go out of work during a pandemic. The percentage of people who have enough rainy day savings or long-term unemployment is even less than the number of people who amass a million in retirement savings.

              And shit does not happen to all of us equally. That is the ridiculous fallacy which allows people

              • > Almost all of the savings of your average millionaire are in retirement accounts, so while they may have saved up $30k in their 401k that doesn't mean they have it available when their car breaks down.

                Most people who plan ahead and have $100K in their 401k are people who - well, they plan ahead, so they have $1,000-$5,000 in their savings account.

                > Medical costs do not hit us all equally. Industry disruption does not hit us all equally. Layoffs do not hit us all equally. In fact they hit us very une

          • Being a very careful saver like you seem to have become does make a difference for most people. And many people are making those sacrifices. Some are doing it to pay for daycare, which doesn't help their savings, and others do it to save (like you are).

            You're missing the point. Nearly everybody at any level of the economic spectrum with a job can save, and saving some allows you to save more. For instance, by saving up for your next vehicle rather than financing, you save on interest or at the very least put more down so that you pay less interest.

            My guess is you don't have a couple kids to support. Because if you did and had $300k in savings you must be making far greater than median income, in which case your situation is irrelevant to the vast majority of people.

            What does that have to do with the GP's point? It does not matter that it's easier to save a higher percentage the more you make. The less you make, the more those savings can impact your quality of life.

        • Every dollar you spend is a mortgage on your future.

        • Why is it some millionaires make $1/year?

          • Because once you have a million dollars from saving and having your savings grow, you don't have to go to work and make money anymore? I'm looking forward to that.

            Not that I work that hard now, but don't tell my boss that.

        • If only we could all learn to be dull, lifeless robots who contribute little to the local economy - then after years and years of miserly scrimping, we could almost afford one half of a tiny studio apartment in a bad neighborhood!!

          • Yeah the guy working for me sure wishes I was broke.

            If you WANT to be broke, that's totally cool. Go for it. It's be honest with yourself about your choice.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by XXongo ( 3986865 )

      If you're afraid that your employer is putting your health at risk and they aren't listening to your complaints then you need to quit.

      No, if your employer is putting your health at risk and they aren't listening to your complaints, then you need to burn that business to the ground. Because killing people in order to increase your profit is not acceptable in a civilized society.

      Going on strike, however, is an acceptable second choice, which has the advantage of being more socially acceptable (that is, not putting you in prison).

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by ranton ( 36917 )

      It's super, super simple. If you're afraid that your employer is putting your health at risk and they aren't listening to your complaints then you need to quit.

      Do you really think the only way to file grievance against your employer is to quit? Every day I am trying to improve the way my company prioritizes strategic projects, how we allocate resources, how we architect our systems, etc. and quitting almost never comes to mind as a way to make those improvements. Not everyone just walks away from every problem they have, partially because they don't always have the luxury to. Would that also be your solution to my kindergartner who isn't doing well with her e-lear

      • "Do you really think the only way to file grievance against your employer is to quit? "
        Not at all, I didn't really even imply that.

        My point is that YOUR safety is YOUR responsibility. Full stop.
        Some people are going to say "I cannot accept a 1% higher risk!" - that's entirely their choice.
        OTOH, some people might say "Ultimately, having a paycheck is worth more to my safety and overall health than that 1% so I don't like it but can accept it."

        Ultimately, that's a decision people have to ultimately make for

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by mark-t ( 151149 )

      If you're afraid that your employer is putting your health at risk and they aren't listening to your complaints then you need to quit.

      Or you file an OHSA complaint, providing enough background to your situation that they can take it seriously....that is, if there *are* reasonable precautions you could be taking to make yourself safer without violating your employer's criteria for getting the job done, it may still fall upon you to do those things, depending on the work sector. For example, if you were req

  • "XXX just started shopping!"
    I am tipping pretty generously for their work right now. This asthmatic, immuno-compromized geezer appreciates it.

    - Necron69

  • Remember when we were obsessed about zombies? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by RyanFenton ( 230700 ) on Friday May 01, 2020 @10:02AM (#60010980)

    Yeah - maybe pretend this was one of those 'one drop hits you, you're likely infected' ones - since a big part of those fictions is basically about understanding infection patterns by drama/horror. Because that's what we're still dealing with still.

    It's a lovely fantasy to think that we're 'past the peak' and now free to do whatever - but there's still 900,000+ active infected folks just in our nation, plus an unknown number that don't know they have it. That curve isn't lowered without respect for the harm this still-very-active disease.

    So yeah - we do need to figure out how to maximize what we can do as a culture, and still prevent infection - and a 'just get your work done' attitude isn't one that even serves greed well.

    If we can be obsessive about zombies for all these decades, we can be obsessive about our own lives until we get a working vaccine. Yes, that has always included keeping supply chains active and working - but it also involves improving the process as we go, and learning increased strictness about safety and priorities.

    Blowing that off... well, it's giving into the infection, when you were so close to beating it. Don't be one of those stereotypical 'betrayer' characters close to the end of the story.

    Ryan Fenton

    • I've already had the Corona virus 6 times.

      It's already killed me twice. The other seven times it turned me into a raging zombie with a real hankering for brains.

      Thank goodness tho, a repressive prison state dictatorship saved me from myself! Now instead of eating brains, I just stay locked home in the stale unhealthy indoor air getting sicker and sicker by the day. And let the Corona flu kill me again and again. What wholesome fun! Huzzah and three cheers for dictatorship - I don't know how to think for my

    • Give it a rest - there's ample data out now to show that we seriously overestimated the risk to society of coronavirus. That isn't to say it was wrong to do that, it's generally better to find out you've overestimated vs. underestimating, but pretty much everyone outside of small select groups (very old & certain conditions) is not at risk here. It is impossible to "beat" this virus, hose who are highly vulnerable need to remain highly cautious until a vaccine is developed. The rest of us can go on w

  • If it becomes a problem the companies could just fire everyone and hire from the 30 million unemployed that need work...
    On the other hand, for every person hired, they will need to spend time re-training them. I think it will be a balance between time wasted from the boycott vs training new employees.

    I dont agree with the work conditions, but we are limited on supplies as well. I would be upset too if the company I was working for didnt have good virus protection but you are also doing a job that required h

    • If it becomes a problem the companies could just fire everyone and hire from the 30 million unemployed that need work...

      Heh give up state unemployment + the federal $600/wk for a job that only pays ~$500/wk. Yea real smart there.....

  • No worries, the Don will crack some skulls and get them back to work.

  • Let's take all the "send us back to work" protesters and send them in to replace the "we need to be protected at work" protesters. (I fully support both groups rights to protest. I just happen to side with the "we need to be protected at work" people because my wife and progeny work retail.)

  • The article was posted at 9:43am, which means that the press release was written last night...before May 1. What kind of bullshit is the press trying to feed us?

  • No, No We're Not... (Score:5, Informative)

    by atouk ( 1336461 ) on Friday May 01, 2020 @11:15AM (#60011340)
    I work at one of the largest Amazon FCs (Fulfillment Center). The ONLY talk I've heard about walkouts, etc, is from poorly sourced News reports.

    I think this is the third time I've heard about walkouts at Amazon protesting X, Y or Z, and there's never been one at mine. A location with over 6000 employees.

    A few facts not mentioned.

    Everyone entering the building is temp checked by FLIR (previously hand held until the equipment arrived), and handed a facemask.

    Anyone over a temp of 101 (fact check me, I could be wrong on the actual temp) is sent home.

    Associates with confirmed cases are given two weeks leave WITH PAY.

    LP tracks all confirmed cases and notifies Associates that may have come in contact with a confirmed case.

    All associates have been given a 2 dollar an hour bump over their normal salary for the duration of the crisis, and overtime rate has been increased to 2x base (including that extra 2 bucks).

    PTO and LOA policies have been modified to have no effect on the Associates attendance records.

    As much as possible, extra cleaning and sanitizing has been ongoing. Hand sanitizer stations have been set up almost everywhere,

    Meetings have been replaced with online Chime meetings.

    A 6 foot distancing policy is in place. Lunch rooms have been rearranged with the removal of tables and chairs to accomplish this, extra rooms have been set up, and breaks have been staggered 15 minutes to accommodate less seating.

    I really don't understand what more people expect. Amazon didn't create the problem and isn't going to cure it. And for every order processed, that's one less person going to the store (if it's even open), and coming in contact with others that may be infected. Plus it's keeping people working.

    And if you feel unsafe, you're free to stay home.

  • It seems to me given the issues these companies have these days they thy are just trying to make it look like their employees are the bad people, when in reality these people could be legitimately sick and unable to be tested for COVID19 due to their employers bad employment practices.

  • Getting groceries is not optional. Everyone who defers today will have to make up for it later on top of the people who would be there already. Communism is a death cult.

    • hahaha, this is about the people who work in the stores, not you the customer. Their working there is optional, maybe they get disgusted and leave and no one packs and ships your groceries.

      • Yeah. And that means that I and everyone else have to go in to do it ourselves. All at once. When we otherwise would not have had to. Increasing the crowding. With the strikers. Communism rots the brain.

        • striking is not communism. It's another way of bargaining in capitalist system.

          so what, you have to go to store and wear mask and keep distance. not seeing the problem here, I do it and millions of other do it. Yet our cities aren't having infection like New York, how about that.

  • I fully support labor organization, but the reality that these companies can just fire those employees and replace them easily. There's plenty of people who need work right now.

    If they were unionized, it would be a different matter. This is a great time to get unionization, I'm surprised there is no widescale push to do that. Thousands is not nearly enough given the amount of employees at these companies.

    I was involved with unionizing the grad students at my school, and it was well worth the work. Future st

  • Here are the specific demands:

    Instacart workers are calling for better distribution of personal protective equipment Better means that they are getting personal protective equipement but they are unhappy about the amount

    Whole Foods workers are calling for locations with positive cases to be shut down for 14 days. insane requirement, obviously. Vast majority of zip codes - all major zip codes in my state have positive cases. Grocery stores should stay closed when the whole population is positive.

    Amazon del

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