Amazon Workers Planning Prime-Day Strike
Amazon
Warehouse workers at Amazon's (AMZN) - Get Report Minnesota fulfillment center operations are planning to strike during the online retailer's massive two-day Prime Day sale later this month, a sign that labor unrest persists even after the company committed to paying all employees at least $15 an hour last year.
Workers at the warehouse and shipping facility in Shakopee, Minnesota, plan a six-hour work stoppage July 15, the first day of Prime Day, Bloomberg News reported on Monday.
"Amazon is going to be telling one story about itself, which is they can ship a Kindle to your house in one day, isn't that wonderful," William Stolz, one of the Shakopee employees organizing the strike, told Bloomberg. "We want to take the opportunity to talk about what it takes to make that work happen and put pressure on Amazon to protect us and provide safe, reliable jobs."
An Amazon spokesperson told TheStreet.com in response that the company already offers what the outside organization representing the Shakopee facility are asking for, including per-hour pay ranging from $16.25-$20.80 an hour, benefits including health care and other perks including up to 20 weeks parental leave, paid education and more.
"We encourage anyone to compare our pay, benefits, and workplace to other retailers and major employers in the Shakopee community and across the country -- and we invite anyone to see for themselves by taking a tour of the facility," the spokesperson said, adding that on average, 90% of the company's Shakopee associates are already full time, and some 100 temps have been converted to full-time Amazon positions so far this year -- 30 of those in the past week.
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The strike isn't expected to disrupt the company's fifth-annual annual sales extravaganza, as its other facilities and people are expected to pick up any slack.
Until now, Amazon's U.S. workers haven't walked off the job during key sales days. About 250 union pilots who haul packages for Amazon and DHL Worldwide Express staged a brief strike in the leadup to Thanksgiving in 2016 before a federal judge ordered them back to work.
Amazon last month announced that the hugely popular Prime Day will run for 48 hours this year, in a nod to both the Black Friday-like popularity of the annual event and Amazon's willingness to offer discounts to reel in and keep customers.
Shares of Amazon were up 0.26% at $1,947.94 in mid-afternoon trading.
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