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Friend,
Right now, Amazon is facing a lot of public scrutiny for its shady relationships with police and its unsafe workplace conditions during a global pandemic.
Just as we’re calling for Amazon to cut ties with police and ICE,1 we must also hold the company accountable for its pattern of punishing workers who are blowing the whistle on unsafe work practices.
Frontline workers need safe workplaces for their own well-being and to protect the public during the pandemic. Tell Congress to stop companies like Amazon from retaliating against workers who are speaking out about conditions that could exacerbate the spread of COVID-19.
Workers have a right to organize and speak out when workplaces are unsafe. Yet Amazon fired six employees after they sounded the alarm about company practices that could lead to the spread of COVID-19.2 Disturbingly, all of the warehouse workers who were fired are Black. Black communities are already facing the brunt of this pandemic and silencing their voices will only compound this disparity.
We need frontline workers to feel secure when they blow the whistle on unsafe work practices. Take action to demand that Congress pass legislation to protect workers from employer retaliation.
Amazon’s terrible track record with employee health and safety practices3 is only getting worse during the COVID-19 crisis. There are reportedly already over 100 warehouses with positive cases of the virus and at least seven employees have died from COVID-19.4 5 Workers are fighting back to protect themselves and the public.
Congress needs to stop employers like Amazon from retaliating against workers. Lawmakers must safeguard the millions of people employed in warehouses, grocery stores, health-care facilities and other workplaces who put themselves and their families at risk every time they go to work.
We need federal legislation that safeguards workers who expose company practices that put us all at risk. Tell Congress to pass legislation to protect workers from employer retaliation.
Together, we can build the world we want to be part of.
Lucia and the rest of the Free Press Action team
freepress.net
P.S. Workers at Amazon are sounding the alarm about dangerous conditions that risk exacerbating the spread of COVID-19, but the technology giant is retaliating against them. Tell Congress to stop this.
1. “Amazon: Cut Ties With Police and ICE,” coalition campaign
2. “Amazon VP Resigns in Protest Over Firings of Activist Employees,” CNET, May 5, 2020
3. “Amazon Dodged Workplace Safety Regulators for Years, Investigations Show,” The Verge, Nov. 26, 2019
4. “Senators Want to Know If Amazon Retailed Against Whistle-Blowers,” The New York Times, May 7, 2020
5. “A Seventh Amazon Employee Dies of COVID-19 as the Company Refuses to Say How Many Are Sick,” The Verge, May 14, 2020
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