Dear Friend,
Congresswomen Rashida Tlaib and Debbie Dingell were visiting an Amazon
warehouse in Michigan to see evidence of poor working conditions and
investigate constituent companies about lack of coronavirus protections.^1
Then the police arrived.
Instead of answering questions and treating members of Congress with the
respect they deserve, Amazon called the cops. In fact, CEO Jeff Bezos has
declared war on anyone who tries to pressure them to improve working
conditions. That's why Demand Progress needs to ramp up our campaign to
break up Amazon.
[ [link removed] ]Will you donate to help demand that Congress break up Amazon?
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Rep. Tlaib and Dingell were contacted by Amazon employees about the
working conditions they were subjected to. In a letter to the Occupational
Safety and Health Administration, the congresswomen described how
warehouse workers were being forced to work in close quarters without
ability to social distance, and how a lack of paid sick leave encouraged
employees to come to work sick.^2
When the two members of Congress tried to visit a warehouse, the
billion-dollar corporation called the police to intimidate them.^3 But
that's not the only tactic Amazon is employing to stop efforts to protect
workers.
News recently leaked of an Amazon job posting for an “intelligence
analyst” whose assignment is specifically to report on endeavors of
workforce organizing, collective bargaining, attempts to identify the
company as a monopoly.^4
In other words, Amazon hired a counter-intelligence officer to spy on its
employees and grassroots advocates like us and defeat them.
Jeff Bezos is on the verge of being the first person in the US to be worth
$200 billion dollars. He is making $320 million every day, but he refuses
to pay for comprehensive sick leave or coronavirus protections.^5,6
Bezos should not have command of $200 billion dollars and a company that
corners several markets, especially as his thousands of workers suffer.
This is exactly why Demand Progress helped create the Athena Coalition to
break up Amazon, and right now, we need to pressure Congress to do just
that.
[ [link removed] ]Will you donate to Demand Progress to help stop Amazon?
Thanks for standing with us.
Robert Cruickshank,
Demand Progress
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Sources:
1. Business Insider, "2 Democratic congresswomen say the police were
called after they showed up at an Amazon warehouse to check on workers'
safety," [ [link removed] ]September 12, 2020
2. Business Insider, "Rashida Tlaib and Debbie Dingell call for federal
investigation into health violations at Amazon warehouses during the
coronavirus pandemic," [ [link removed] ]May 14, 2020
3. Business Insider, "2 Democratic congresswomen say the police were
called after they showed up at an Amazon warehouse to check on workers'
safety," [ [link removed] ]September 12, 2020
4. ZDNet, "Amazon is hiring intelligence analysts to watch organized
labor, hostile political leaders, more," [ [link removed] ]September 1, 2020
5. Market Realist, "How Much Does Jeff Bezos Make a Second?" [ [link removed] ]August
16, 2020
6. Business Insider, "Jeff Bezos boasts in letter to shareholders that 40
million Americans make less than any Amazon employee," [ [link removed] ]April 16, 2020
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