Amazon, Instacart grocery workers strike amidst concerns about COVID-19

Amazon warehouse workers employed in Staten Island in New York, one of the states hardest hit by COVID-19, and Instacart grocery delivery workers announced plans to strike today.

These workers are demanding additional COVID-19 safety health and safety protection and increased pay.

Last week, the Washington Post reported ten Amazon warehouse workers tested positive for the corona virus.

Chris Smalls, a management assistant employed at the Amazon Staten Island warehouse and lead organizer of the strike, informed CNBC that the strikers had become concerned after one of their colleagues was diagnosed with COVID-19 last week. Smalls also stated the Amazon strikers will not return to work until their demands, including that Amazon shut down the warehouse for extra cleaning and provide workers with paid time off while it does so, are met.

Instacart is a San Francisco-based company with 300,000 workers and is in the business of delivering groceries to consumers.

According to the Associated Press, an organization called the Gig Workers Collective is calling for a nationwide walk-out of Instacart workers. The Gig Workers Collective has been requesting that Instacart provide their workers with hazard pay and protective gear and other demands, the Associated Press also reports.

Sources:

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/amazon-workers-strike-to-protest-working-conditions-on-prime-day-labor-union-says-human-beings-are-not-robots-2019-07-15

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-03-29/amazon-workers-to-strike-at-new-york-site-over-virus-concerns

https://www.businessinsider.com/staten-island-amazon-warehouse-workers-strike-coronavirus-2020-3

https://www.washingtonpost.com/

https://apnews.com/f5738dfa1c308affeac71d82a43c0214