Fired Amazon worker organizes essential workers

Latest


 
Chris Smalls, fired from Amazon for fighting for workers’ health and safety during pandemic comments below.
I had been with the company since 2015. I opened up three major buildings, with my last location at Staten Island. In early March I started to raise health and safety issues, going through proper channels . . . after not getting the response I needed, I had to take further action [walkout] resulting in my termination. They said I was fired because I didn’t observe social distance guidelines.
Jeff Bezos is going to profit $30 Billion during this time. He puts profits above people, had no plan going into this . . . only meeting demands of their pockets, not demands of employees or customers which are all at risk. We raised concerns. Some were retaliated against. Some were terminated. Now they claim they’re spending $4 Billion, but what do you say to families [some workers died]. There’s no replacement on human life. They should be held accountable.
I’m now a full-blown employee with this activism . . . one of my many actions was May 1, a nationwide walkout, which included Whole Foods, Walmart, Instagram, Fed Ex. . . . we plan to do it again on June Teenth, Freedom Day . . . And I’m launching my own organization, T.C.O.E.W., which stands for The Congress of Essential Workers, a nationwide organization . . . employee driven, with union-wide structure of workforces like Amazon. If we accomplish that, other major corporations will fall in line too.
We are working class people, from the community. We are not the 1%, CEO’s, billionaires, higher ups. They are home in their million-dollar mansions away from these communities getting sick, the urban areas where black and brown make up 80% of their workforce. Until they are protected, don’t support these major corporations. Go to your mom and pop stores. Amazon is now on track to cancel hero pay. Sign petition to extend unlimited PPE and help people keep the $2 pay @Shut_downAmazon
Excerpted with permission from interview by The Benjamin Dixon Show.
 
http://peoplestribune.org/pt-news/2020/06/strikes-in-the-food-industry/
 

+ Articles by this author

Free to republish but please credit the People's Tribune. Visit us at www.peoplestribune.org, email peoplestribune@gmail.com, or call 773-486-3551.

The People’s Tribune brings you articles written by individuals or organizations, along with our own reporting. Bylined articles reflect the views of the authors. Unsigned articles reflect the views of the editorial board. Please credit the source when sharing: ©2024 peoplestribune.org. Please donate to help us keep bringing you voices of the movement. Click here. We’re all volunteer, no paid staff.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Featured

‘We Need Urgent Global Climate Action’

Eighty-nine percent of people worldwide want their governments to do more to address the global climate crisis. Conference on tipping points says situation is urgent. Meanwhile U.S. govt does more to boost fossil fuel forms of energy.

May Day 2025: United We Will Win

International Worker’s Day is celebrated on May 1st around the world. Today, the entire U.S. working class, of which immigrants comprise an integral part, is under attack. The defense of immigrants is vital to the defense of the entire working class.

White School Officer Pepper-sprayed and Kneed Black Beaumont, TX Student, Complaint says. Will Feds Act?

A 6-second video, recorded by a teacher and reviewed by the Texas Observer, shows an officer grabbing a student’s hair, kneeing her in the face, and knocking the 100-pound girl on her back.

Pope Francis Dies After Easter Plea to End War in Gaza

"In his final public message, Pope Francis decried the “terrible conflict” in Gaza.

Bring Union Brother Kilmar Home: His Deportation Is an Attack on All of Us

The deportation of union brother Kilmar Abrego Garcia is a gut punch to the labor movement, a slap in the face to every worker who dares to organize.

More from the People's Tribune