Workers holding various protests in light of their rights is nothing new. Several labor unions keep every worker’s rights in order and shield them from any unjust.
From big MNCs to scaling companies, compulsory dues should never be violated. Anytime they feel threatened or exploited, protests or walkouts are in the rear sight.
Something similar happened in four different Amazon warehouses in two American states, Georgia and Illinois. Workers chose the company’s important day, “Second Prime Day of the Year”, to stand up for themselves and their rights.
The first walkout was held in Georgia’s Stone Mountain, where the workers were spotted marching outside the building. Alarmingly, this is not the first protest this year; there have been previous walkouts in the same location.
The force behind the ongoing campaign by this giant’s workers is the demand for $24 per hour. Also, it happened because the response to the previous walkouts has been an insignificant rise in salaries.
BREAKING: Amazon workers at Stone Mountain (ATL2) in Georgia walked off the job AGAIN today after Amazon offered them negligible raises in response to their last walkout. Workers are demanding $24/hour. pic.twitter.com/NHvxbeZI6t
— More Perfect Union (@MorePerfectUS) October 11, 2022
Consequently, this has not satisfied the workers, who staged yet another protest to raise their work rate to $24 per hour.
Another warehouse site in Buford, Georgia, where roughly 15 workers walked out and took part in the march. It didn’t stop there, and another 15 or more workers stepped out in Atlanta too.
In addition to these, two distribution centers in Joliet, Illinois, where the workers walked out during the lunch break. Another advantage for the ones involved in the protest was another warehouse’s location. Since it was just near the vicinity, a total of 14 workers were present.
As per a reporter from the City Bureau, Black Workers Matter Chicago, the Teamsters union, and other organizations joined the workers in Joliet. In fact, there was a time when protesters prevented trucks from accessing the site.
When approached for a reaction to the walkouts, Amazon spokesperson Barbara Agrait told FOX Business in an emailed statement, “We value employee feedback and are always listening. We’re investing $1 billion over the next year to permanently raise hourly pay for frontline employees, and we’ll continue looking for ways to improve their experience.” Source: Fox News.
Tuesday’s minor demonstrations in Georgia and Illinois seem to have been one-offs. Also, to put these protests in a frame of reference, Amazon reported having 1.523 million full- and part-time employees worldwide, ruling out contractors and temporary staff, as of June.
Amazon came out in its defense and said that the average pay scale of the company’s front-line workers stands at $19 per hour. Depending on the roles and positions of its workers, they get paid between $16 and $26 per hour.
Not to miss that the permanent staff of the company gets compensated well in other forms of beneficial packages. Like health, vision, and dental insurance, a 401(k) with a 50% company match, and many other lucrative benefits.
These protests or walkouts are not new for Amazon, as there have been prior such demonstrations in other parts of the country like Staten Island, New York. Although the demands and situation were different, a similar course of sit-down protest was held.
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