Amazon warehouse workers are planning to call in sick en masse this week to protest working conditions, CNBC reports.
More than 300 Amazon workers in at least 50 facilities have already signed up to take part in the “mass call out.”
The protest is expected to last all week since workers are scheduled for shifts at different times.
Amazon workers in Staten Island, Detroit, and Illinois have already staged similar protests.
Amazon’s corporate employees are planning a “virtual sick out” for April 24 to call on the company to reinstate fired workers.
Protester demands:
The protesters are calling for “deep cleaning of all facilities” and demanded the company “immediately close down and sanitize workplaces with associates who test positive for coronavirus.”
The workers also called for testing and full pay for employees to self-isolate and for the company to provide protective equipment.
The protesters also called for a separate 14-day paid sick leave program and 12 weeks of emergency paid leave. They also demanded health care coverage for all workers, hazard pay, and the lifting of restrictions on workers at warehouses.
Amazon fired protest leader:
The protest comes after Amazon fired Christian Smalls, a New York employee who led the walkout in Staten Island.
The company claimed it fired Smalls for violating social distancing guidelines.
Numerous Democratic senators criticized the company in a letter to CEO Jeff Bezos.
“The right to organize is a bedrock of our economy, responsible for many of the greatest advances achieved by workers over generations,” the letter said.
