Business

Here’s why Amazon and Instacart employees are on strike at a time when you need it most

Some Instacart employees said they turned off their app on Monday to draw attention to concerns about the company’s treatment of workers during the public health crisis. Meanwhile, around fifty Amazon workers at its Staten Island plant demonstrated just after midday amid allegations that the company mismanaged its response to the coronavirus. Amazon has confirmed two cases in this installation to CNN Business. A protester displayed a sign that said: “Our health is just as essential”.

The strikes highlight a fundamental tension in the tech sector right now: companies such as Amazon and Instacart are experiencing such demand from customers anxious to exit the market that they have announced their intention to hire 100,000 warehouse workers and 300,000 buyers, respectively. But the workers who are the backbone of these companies told CNN Business that they thought the two companies were not doing enough to protect them.

Some Instacart employees plan to continue the strike against the company until it responds to their requests, which include the risk premium, expanding the sickness benefit for coronaviruses to include coverage for those with underlying health conditions and changing the default tip from 5% to 10% on all orders. Meanwhile, others have told CNN Business that they will continue to work, citing fear of retaliation and reluctance to leave customers embarrassed. But they also believe that Instacart must improve working conditions at a time when the importance of their work is more than ever felt by customers.

“Many of us fear much more for our lives than the reprisals this strike could cause,” said a statement from the Gig Workers Collective, the new non-profit organization that is leading the strike effort at Instacart. “Defending yourself is always a gamble … but we are not afraid.”

In a statement to CNN Business about the strike, Instacart said: “We have seen absolutely no impact on Instacart’s operations. Today we have seen 40% more buyers on the platform same day and same time last week. “

The company said that in the past week, 250,000 new people have signed up to work as independent contractors and 50,000 have already started doing so. “We respect the right of buyers to give us feedback and express concerns,” said the company.

Before the strike, Instacart made a few updates, including stating that it would soon be making hand sanitizer available to workers on their website. But workers told CNN Business that the changes barely touched the surface of their complaints. In addition to requests from the organizers, some Instacart employees said that the company’s compensation structure means that they can sometimes earn as little as $ 5 to $ 7, not including tips or mileage, for performing several orders. (Instacart said its minima have been in place for over a year and workers can choose the jobs they want to work.) Some have also expressed frustration that when problems arise, they sometimes wait hours – this who is not paid – to get answers from the company’s customer service. They wondered how the company could add hundreds of thousands of additional workers when there is little support for those they already have.

Instacart told CNN Business that it is working to develop its customer service team to meet the increased demand. He also made recent updates to anticipate some common employee concerns, such as temporarily removing customer ratings so that employees are not penalized when high-demand items are not found in stores.

Amazon has also come under criticism. In interviews with CNN Business, Amazon workers expressed concern over working conditions at its warehouses across the country, including what they claim to be pressure to work longer hours as well as a lack screening workers for possible symptoms of coronavirus, adequate social distancing and protection measures. equipment. Amazon warehouses are facing a growing wave of coronavirus cases with at least 13 facilities affected so far, according to Amazon and local media. A company spokesperson confirmed on Monday that at least one worker had a positive result at its Kent, WA and Eastvale, CA facilities.

Employees at Amazon's Staten Island warehouse are on strike demanding that the facility be closed and cleaned up after a staff member has tested positive for coronavirus.

Amazon and Instacart have announced policies offering some form of sickness compensation for those who fall ill with a coronavirus or are placed in quarantine. For Instacart employees, it is unclear to what extent this has been helpful. According to Gig Workers Collective, “a big push for the moment for this strike has been to see our fellow buyers being denied the” sickness premium “offered by Instacart.”

When asked about this, Instacart reiterated its policy on the matter and stated that it communicates with workers who have submitted documents that do not meet its criteria in order to help them understand what is necessary to be entitled to wages .

“Service workers are suffering. And yet they are essential in this critical time,” said Veena Dubal, labor law expert and associate professor at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. “The fact that these strikes are occurring simultaneously shows that if companies do not meet their demands, workers have the power to close supply chains.”

Dubal added: “Consumers too are realizing how closely their well-being is linked to the well-being of the people who perform these functions.”

According to Christian Smalls, an employee of Amazon, a process assistant at the Staten Island plant, who led Monday’s organizing efforts, “the plan is to cease all operations until the building is closed and sanitized “.

“We are not asking for much,” he told CNN Business on Sunday, saying that many more workers had tested positive for the virus at the facility than the company had publicly acknowledged. During the demonstration, a person chanted: “How many cases do we have?” and the workers replied “Ten!” When asked if the establishment had 10 cases, Amazon did not confirm or deny the number.

“We ask that the building be closed and sanitized, and that we be paid [during that process]”said Smalls.

An Amazon spokesperson said on Sunday evening that the company’s top priority was the health and safety of its employees.

“We believe direct communication is the best way to discuss feedback, and our on-site teams speak directly with employees every day to hear their questions and discuss the options available in this constantly changing environment,” said the spokesperson. speech.

Amazon warehouses affected by coronavirus cases

A few hours before the walkout, some workers at the facility received a text message informing them that another worker, last at the facility on March 24, had tested positive for the coronavirus, a worker told CNN Business. “We understand that you might be nervous about coming to work,” says the message. “We have taken a number of steps to keep ourselves safe, such as increasing demands for social distance to six feet, shift work, extended breaks and even more frequent cleanups.” Amazon has confirmed that the text is authentic.

However, some workers are on the verge of joining the strikes. Although they want to push for change, some cannot afford not to work and feel in conflict about its potential impact on regular households.

“People need to shop and I don’t want to get in the way, it’s not their fault,” an employee of Instacart, Florida, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told CNN Business. fear of reprisals. “I delivered [Saturday] to a man whose wife suffers from an autoimmune disorder and [needs] grocery delivered. ”

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