San Francisco It is a small group in which Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos currently brings his key top managers together every day to discuss the effects of the corona crisis. Neither Smalls nor Bezos would have ever dreamed that it would be about warehouse worker Chris Smalls.
But now the management of the global online retailer knows the name of the ex-employee. Smalls organized a strike last week against what was believed to be many defective corona arrangements in its Amazon warehouse in New York and many others in the United States.
Amazon then threw him out, allegedly because his protest violated a 14-day quarantine requirement after a corona infection in his circle of colleagues. According to Amazon, three employees in the warehouse are infected with the corona virus, the protesting employees claim that there are at least ten.
“Getting active cost me my job,” Smalls said later in an interview. Since then, a battle of words has raged between Amazon and Smalls. A struggle that the top management of Amazon would like to wage: “It is not intelligent or eloquent,” said Amazon’s chief lawyer David Zapolsky, according to a transcript from Bezos, quoted in the “Vice News”. “If the press wants to focus on a conflict between us and him, we are in a much stronger position than when we explain how we protect our workers for the umpteenth time.”
Zapolsky then argues that Amazon should explain to the public in detail why Smalls acted “immorally” and “possibly illegally”. “Make him the most interesting part of history and, if possible, make him the face of the whole union movement.” According to the report, “general consent” of the other participants is noted in the minutes.
Zapolsky confirmed “Vice News” the authenticity of the quotes, but in his answer aims again at smalls. His comments were “personal and emotional”. He was frustrated that an employee was putting his colleagues’ health at risk.
The affair over the fired protest leader could hit Amazon’s reputation hard. It’s a story of how Americans love it. The underdog against the mega-group Amazon. A proverbial little man against one of the largest companies in the world. The fact that the man’s name is Smalls is all the more beautiful.
Masks and forehead thermometers
The fact is that the online merchant’s struggle with organizing workers goes back a long way before the corona crisis. A strike in his department stores is coming at a particularly bad time for Amazon. In contrast to many other companies, the online retailer is very busy. What can no longer be bought in stores is now ordered online. In many places, Amazon has become as essential as Swiss Post. The company plans to employ 100,000 new people for its warehouses and delivery services.
But as the number of orders explodes, the company struggles to fill all shifts in its warehouses. An employee in a warehouse in Charlotte told the Wall Street Journal that at times only half of the necessary staff was present. There is also a lack of masks or disinfectants to keep the risk of infection low.
As of next week, Amazon plans to distribute masks and measure fever to all employees in European and American warehouses. Anyone with the contactless forehead thermometer showing 38 degrees or more will be sent home. Smart cameras would check whether warehouse workers keep enough distance from each other.
The spread of the corona virus and that of worker dissatisfaction are related to Amazon: Walkouts have also taken place in warehouses in Chicago and the state of Michigan. An employee from Romulus, near Detroit, told tech portal The Verge that it was rumored that Amazon was not telling people about infection. “I understand that we cannot do without us. But we can’t do without our lives either. ”
Amazon is struggling to get out of the corona crisis with a better reputation than before. On the one hand, customers around the world are learning to fully appreciate their range and delivery service during the corona pandemic. Even US President Donald Trump, who enjoys living out his rivalry with Amazon boss Jeff Bezos, is now praising Amazon.
But the workers ‘protests give the company completely new political problems: Letitia James, the busy Attorney General of the State of New York, called Smalls’ dismissal “immoral and inhuman” and wants to examine measures against Amazon. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio also wants the city’s Human Rights Commission to review the case.
More: Amazon supplies everyone who is stuck at home – and that supports the share.
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