| Dear, The “Christmas creep” is in full swing. Holiday decor is up, Christmas commercials are running, and Amazon sent out a giant full-color toy catalog to its biggest customers. But instead of clicking “add to cart” for your holiday shopping this year, we’re asking our community to think of the more than 160,000 small businesses that have closed their doors since the pandemic started -- and the warehouse workers who suffered while Amazon made $10 billion during last month’s Prime Day sale alone.(1) Courage California has launched a boycott of Amazon for the holiday season, encouraging people to #BlackOutBezos for Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and beyond. We’re planning two weeks full of digital and print ads and a social media campaign explaining why people should shop local instead of with Amazon, and we’re getting started right now. Will you donate to help #BlackOutBezos this holiday season? The numbers are outrageous: since the beginning of the pandemic, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’ wealth increased by more than $70 billion.(2) But while he amasses unimaginable wealth, his workers -- especially those driving shipments and working in Amazon warehouses -- are left to suffer. California’s division of occupational safety and health just levied fines on two warehouses for not protecting their workers from the coronavirus.(3) Employees were given a $2/hour raise for two months because of the hazards of working during a pandemic, and then had it taken away, even though coronavirus cases are on the rise.(4) Even without the pandemic, Amazon workers are much more likely to suffer injuries than those in similar jobs. A recent investigation showed 8 serious injuries per 100 employees -- double the industry standard -- due to unrealistic expectations and unsafe technology in the warehouses.(5) Employees who try to fight back are quickly fired. And Amazon has hired an intelligence analyst to search out efforts to organize or highlight its terrible business practices in order to shut down those uprisings. Amazon is cheap and convenient. But is that convenience worth the health and wellbeing of its more than 1,000,000 workers in America? We don’t think so. Instead of lining Bezos’ pockets more during the holiday season, we’re asking everyone possible to visit their neighborhood businesses and help support the people living and working in their communities. Bad press just isn’t enough -- if we’re going to see real change for Amazon workers, we need to hit Bezos in his wallet. We need to #BlackOutBezos. Yours in the fight for worker rights, Angela, along with Annie, Caitlin, Deepthi, Gabby, Irene, Jay, Lindsay, Molly, Raquel, and Scottie (the Courage team) Footnotes:  |
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