Yahoo Finance World’s richest man angers over coronavirus response
The world’s richest man, Jeff Bezos, has drawn the ire of activists over alleged failures to protect Amazon workers from coronavirus.
Activists took to the streets of Washington DC to protest, painting “Protect Amazon Workers” in bright red and yellow paint on the street outside the Amazon CEO’s home.
The activist groups, ShutDown D.C. and La ColectiVA reportedly organised the protest against Amazon due to the e-commerce giant’s alleged failure to protect staff.
Workers at Amazon, Whole Foods, Target and Instacart also held a coordinated strike on Friday 2 May to protest conditions and called for hazard pay, paid sick leave and great safety protections.
According to the activists, more than 100 Amazon workers have caught coronavirus.
“We’re calling all these essential workers heroes — grocery store workers and delivery drivers and everyone working at these Amazon warehouses filling people’s orders — but corporations aren’t doing enough to protect them,” the mural’s designer Laura Beth Pelner told the Washington Post.
Amazon workers told WIRED last month that they feel they were being taken advantage of and fear taking the disease home to vulnerable family members.
Prominent US senators Cory Booker, Bernie Sanders, Sherrod Brown and Bob Menendez in March also sent an open letter to Amazon questioning whether the company is doing enough to protect workers, after the first warehouse employee tested positive.
Last month, hundreds of Amazon also carried out strikes against the company to protest their work conditions. Around 300 staff across California, New York, Texas and Florida signed a pledge to stay away from work for one day, according to the New York Post.
However Amazon disputed these figures and said it has worked to protect staff from the respiratory disease.
“Reports of employee participation in today’s event organized by labor unions are grossly exaggerated. What’s true is that masks, temperature checks, hand sanitizer, increased time off, increased pay, and more are standard across our network because we care deeply about the health and safety of our employees,” said Amazon spokesperson Rachael Lighty.
Amazon also said it has implemented 150 changes to address the Covid-19 crisis and keep employees safe.
Follow Yahoo Finance Australia on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.
