Today marks Amazon’s Prime Day, an annual sales event invented by the e-commerce giant. Thanks to the retailer’s ubiquitous advertising and heavily-discounted prices, people now flock to Amazon.com to scoop up bargains for the day. But what makes those deals possible?
Around the world, the women and men working inside Amazon warehouses, spend long shifts sorting, packaging, and shipping items to customers. They often face grueling conditions inside hot, poorly insulated warehouses, spending 12 hours on their feet, with few—if any—breaks. The demands are so high that people working at Amazon warehouses collapse from exhaustion and some have died on the job.
All the while, Amazon shareholders and executives rake in outrageous profits. On Monday, Bloomberg analysts named Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos the richest person on Earth.
Amazon warehouse employees have had enough. People around the world are using Prime Day to stand up, calling on Amazon to provide decent wages, alongside safe and healthy working conditions. Across Europe, women and men in Amazon warehouses joined together on the outset of Prime Day and went on strike. As part of their protest, they called on people throughout the world to boycott Amazon’s biggest shopping day of the year.
Jobs With Justice stands with those working in Amazon warehouses fighting for dignity on the job and a fair return on their work. Help the working people of Amazon raise attention to their demands for a fair return on their work by getting the word out about the dark side of Amazon’s Prime Day!
Here’s what some—including Jobs With Justice—are saying about Amazon on Prime Day:
“Our society needs to talk less about Amazon’s Prime Day sales and more about the serious economic danger Amazon poses to every community in America.” https://t.co/y6A20iHs6s #AmazonPrimeDay pic.twitter.com/3XgmH9mInD
— UFCW (@UFCW) July 16, 2018
Hey Alexa, is there a way we can have #PrimeDay and safe working conditions in @Amazon warehouses? https://t.co/7xdvSg5N3Y
— Jobs With Justice (@jwjnational) July 16, 2018
We’re taking action on this #PrimeDay #PrimeDayofAction in #NYC with @TishJames & @NYCComptroller. Join us in the call to #stopdeliveringhate pic.twitter.com/ima2XCq3q8
— RWDSU (@RWDSU) July 17, 2018
.@amazon workers in #Spain & #Germany went on strike today to protest working conditions at the e-commerce giant's warehouses, just as its massive Prime Day sales kick off. @AmazonEnLucha #HuelgaAmazon https://t.co/C2KtsjSfBe
— Global Labor Justice (@GLJhub) July 16, 2018
Amazon Boycott Unites Workers, Gamers, Shoppers For Prime Day Protest https://t.co/NZZbeSHiZF #amazondelivershate #primedayofaction pic.twitter.com/eVKN0Y22UK
— For Working Families (@P4WF) July 17, 2018
Letting white nationalists sell their books and music on Amazon normalizes hate. This #primeday, join us in telling #Amazon to stop letting hate groups use @Amazon to grow their movement: https://t.co/JrVunJTGf8 #primedayofaction #amazondelivershate pic.twitter.com/FyNBF8NHxH
— ACRE (@ACREcampaigns) July 16, 2018