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July 15 (UPI) – While millions of people are taking advantage of Amazon Prime Day sales, some employees and activists will use this two-day event to draw attention to what they say is bad behavior on the part of of the society.
Employees at an Amazon distribution center in Shakopee, Minnesota, plan to leave work Monday during the last 3 hours of the day shift and the first 3 hours of the night shift. They say that although Amazon has increased hourly wages between $ 16 and $ 20 – more than double the federal minimum – the company sets unrealistic expectations and quotas.
"They are trying to force someone to work as hard as possible under the threat of being fired," Tyler Hamilton, a two-year-old employee, told CBS News. "As much as possible, they find ways to collect data and measure work."
They also complain about unsafe working conditions, lack of communication from supervisors and over-reliance on temporary workers.
"We have to work like machines," Hibaq Mohamed told Forbes. "I see it as an abuse."
A spokeswoman for Amazon said the company had already responded to protesters' concerns.
"We offer excellent job opportunities with excellent pay – ranging from $ 16.25 to $ 20.80 at the hour and full benefits," the spokesman said. "We encourage anyone to compare our compensation, benefits and workplace to those of other retailers and major employers in the Shakopee community and across the country – and we invite anyone to see it by visiting the facilities. . "
Prime Day is a two-day annual sale during which Amazon offers generous – and sometimes deep – discounts in the hope of attracting new subscribers to its Prime program. The company said last year it sold more than 100 million products and added tens of millions of members during the sales period.
William Stolz, one of the organizers of the strike, told Bloomberg that the focus on Amazon during Prime Day was a good time to draw attention to his treatment reserved for employees.
"Amazon will tell a story about itself, that is, they can send you a Kindle at home in a day, is not it wonderful," he said. -he declares. "We want to take this opportunity to talk about what needs to be done to make it work and to pressure Amazon to protect us and provide safe and reliable jobs."
Amazon rejected the walkout scheduled for Monday in Minnesota.
"We can only conclude that people planning to attend the event on Monday are simply not informed," the company added. "If these groups – unions and politicians join their cause – really want to help the American worker, we encourage them to focus their efforts on legislating to raise the federal minimum wage, because $ 7.25 is too low."
Working conditions are not the only subject to cause trouble among Amazon employees. Some in New York plan to demonstrate on Monday the Manhattan condominium, owner of Jeff Bezos, after announcing that the company would provide facial recognition software to the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Dozens of people demonstrated Sunday in front of an Amazon center and ICE detention center in New Jersey, and another was scheduled Monday for the Amazon office in San Francisco.
"We are meeting to say that this must stop," Kung Feng, executive director of San Francisco, told KPIX-TV. "[Amazon is] using its technology to facilitate targeting, detention, expulsion and separation of families. "
Pilots with Amazon Air will also demonstrate Monday on what they say is a low salary. They sent a pilot Monday to Minnesota to support the protest.
Amazon has more than 100 distribution centers in the United States.
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