Prime Day demonstration prepared outdoors Bezos’ Beverly Hills estate

Prime Day is back, therefore are the demonstrations.

The Congress of Essential Workers, an activist group led by present and previous Amazon storage facility staff members, is preparing a march versus the e-commerce giant on Sunday outside CEO Jeff Bezos’ estate in Beverly Hills, California. The presentation was set up simply ahead of Prime Day, which starts Oct. 13. The group is combining companies representing both environment and labor concerns, consisting of Sunrise Movement and Extinction Rebellion, to raise issues about Amazon’s organization practices and storage facility working conditions.

“Employees are not going to be treated fairly and going to have mandatory overtime and have no breaks for the next two months into December,” Jordan Flowers, an outspoken Amazon employee from its Staten Island storage facility, who’s a leader of the employee group, stated in an interview Friday.

Among a long list of needs, the group is requiring a brand-new federal wealth tax to support metropolitan neighborhoods, a $30 base pay and danger spend for the period of the coronavirus pandemic. Amazon’s present base pay is $15, above the federal minimum of $7.25, and it frequently talks up its advantages plan, that includes medical insurance, retirement cost savings and approximately 20 weeks paid adult leave. 

The group likewise required the right for employees to unionize “without fear of retaliation,” a recommendation to Amazon’s anti-union credibility. No United States Amazon employees are unionized.

Amazon didn’t comment for this story. For anybody preparation to participate in the 2 p.m. PT occasion, masks will be necessary.

Though Prime Day has actually ended up being a chance for Amazon to display its subscription advantages and offer countless items, the sale has likewise end up being a platform for advocacy versus the business. Anti-Amazon presentations are likewise held routinely throughout the holiday. Last year, Prime Day presentations were kept in Minnesota, New York, Seattle, San Francisco and throughout Europe, with groups speaking up on concerns varying from environment modification to Amazon’s working conditions to the business’s ties to United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

“Cancel your Prime memberships, order less on Prime Day week and give us time to be prepared because peak season is hectic,” Flowers stated in a plea to Amazon consumers, referencing the vacation shopping season. “We’re doing 50 or 60 hours a week with one or two days off.”

He stated he’s still an active worker at the business, though he hasn’t pertain to his storage facility given that February and is on overdue leave since he has lupus, an autoimmune illness that makes him more vulnerable to severe health issue if he were to agreement the unique coronavirus. Flowers included that Amazon has actually revealed no issue for his health concerns which he’s presently on state joblessness.

Flowers’ group is likewise led by Christian Smalls, an Amazon employee who acquired prominence after he was fired for arranging a demonstration in March to call out coronavirus health issues at the Staten Island storage facility. Amazon stated Smalls was ended for breaking a company-mandated quarantine order.

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The march on Sunday outside of Bezos’ mansion is clearly meant to highlight the wealth disparity between warehouse employees and their boss — the world’s richest person, whose net worth during the coronavirus has ballooned to $185 billion. The Wall Street Journal reported in February that Bezos bought his nine-acre Beverly Hills residence from media mogul David Geffen for $165 million, a new record for the Los Angeles area.

Bezos has made many efforts to show he’s giving back, already pledging $10 billion for climate change and $2 billion for homeless families and education.

The protest comes just days after Amazon disclosed that nearly 20,000 of its employees contracted coronavirus this year. The company has instituted a bevy of safety protocols to protect its warehouse workers, including testing, temperature checks and regular facility cleanings.