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Introducing Amazon Walmart Target mega strike
The effect of the COVID-19 crisis was most daring in the United States of America. This country has faced more infections and deaths than any other country. Besides, all the fifty states had made sure of diseases and death cases. Therefore, this health crisis has created a huge amount of jobless rate in the USA. There was a huge job loss problem. Accordingly, the workers of different companies like Amazon, Target, and Walmart planned for a MEGA app download. Thus, the vital workers at Walmart, Target, Amazon, and other companies had set a strike in the whole country.
The strike had started on 1st May 2020. But, it spread all over the whole USA very fast. Safety issues, lack of benefits, and hazard pay in this pandemic are the main issues for this strike. Besides, this strike had a link with the International Worker’s Day. Also, the strikers got full support from some worker unions. The workers of Target asked for hazard pay, limited customer entrance, and better health and sickness issues. However, the company gave some grants to the workers.
Amazon Walmart Target mega strike-the sprawling protest
Workers of big companies like Walmart, Amazon, and Target had decided to arrange a mega strike for their demands. However, they had a plan to start the strike on 1st May 2020. This mega strike’s main issue is the lack of protection in the job places and unsafe conditions. They choose this day as this day is the International Labour Day. This day is very significant for the workers. Therefore, they can unite the workers very quickly for this mega protest. Most of the workers were from Amazon, Target, Whole Foods, FedEx, Walmart, Instacart, and Shipt. The Intercept reported this at first.
Intercept stated that the workers had some demands. They wanted benefit for some purposes. These are the unpaid salary, payment for the workers who took leave due to sickness, and personal protective equipment. Besides, they also demanded transparency about the number of affected people of the company.
Amazon stated on this mega strike. They said that some people had spread some wrong facts to the workers. Therefore, they were making some false claims. However, Amazon had always been humble about the rights of the employees and the workers. Besides, Target announced that they had taken the necessary steps to keep social distancing and all other safety measurements. Moreover, they added that about 340,000 front-line members had worked to keep the workers safe from this deadly virus.
Amazon Walmart Target mega strike-the unprecedented strike
The workers had taken action in the form of a strike against their companies. According to the team leaders, the companies did not take enough steps for the workers’ health security. They complained that the company had hidden the Covid-19 cases. According to Walmart’s employees, there were not less than 500 cases in 125 facilities of Amazon. He added that the number was higher than her knowledge.
However, Amazon had refused to say anything about the number of Covid-19 cases. They said that they show respect for human rights. Besides, they denied that the information was correct. Again, they believed that some workers or other people were spreading wrong info among the striking workers. The front-line workers from both the union and non-union joined with the strikers. They wanted all the payments that the company did not pay in the time since March. The company also should pay for the workers who are sick during this pandemic.
Christian Smalls was the person who was one of the leaders of this strike. He was an employee of Amazon. He debased rules and regulations of quarantine that the company enforced to do. As a result, Amazon fired him immediately. The union continued the assault on zoom for the last part of the strike. The workers were coming and joining the mega strike. Thus, the strike became powerful.
Amazon Walmart Target mega strike-demand of the workers in detail
Different news reporters and channels had reported and telecast the mega strike. They also find out the reasons and fundamental demands of the strikers. The workers planned to strike on ‘May Day.’ On Friday, the employees of Amazon, Target, Walmart, and other companies stopped working. This strike’s main target was to ensure the safety of the workers at workplaces during this pandemic. The workers demanded improved payment from the companies and other facilities.
Some big companies had taken initial steps for the workers. Amazon explored the whole situation. They had started measuring the body temperature of the workers to make sure if anyone had the flu. Moreover, they gave face masks to the staff to protect them from the coronavirus. Additionally, five of the US senators had sent a message to the CEO of Amazon. They expressed their concerns about the shortage of equipment for personal protection.
Besides, wearing a mask became mandatory for the people working at Walmart. The retailer of Walmart ensured about checking the body temperature of each person working at Walmart. They installed distance markers to maintain social distancing. They reduced about 20%% of the storage capacity. Meanwhile, another company, Target, started monitoring its outposts. They also provided gloves and face masks to the employees and workers. Moreover, they had introduced partitions for extra security.
Amazon Walmart Target mega strike-the companies are not doing enough.
The workers blamed Amazon mostly during this pandemic. The CEO of this company became richer at this time. He gained 24 billion US dollars during this time. Amazon declared of hiring 100,000 new workers. They will work to meet the surging demand. After that, the company had announced again to hire more than 75,000 people. The striking workers and some officials put pressure on the companies. Therefore, the companies allotted some allowances to the workers. Target, Walmart, and Amazon increased the hourly pay by $2. Amazon also took some other steps. Besides, they were keeping the workplace spotless. Again, Target also took some steps. They made some mandatory rules; for instance, the workers would use face masks.
But, other companies did not comment about the strike, like Target and Amazon. Some workers had complained that the companies did not keep their words. In Detroit, an Amazon employee informed that there was no social distancing in the warehouse. The city became a hotspot for coronavirus. However, the workers did not get any masks, gloves, and hand sanitizer there. The company forced the workers to come to work. They could take leave, but they will not get any payment for the rest. Other companies also did not keep their words fully. A lot of workers became sick, and they did not get the salary because they were absent. They suffered a lot because of lack of money and all other living facilities. Therefore, this mega strike became vital for them to achieve their demands.
Amazon Walmart Target mega strike- nurses joined with the workers
Nurses and doctors are the most vital front-line employees of the government during this pandemic. But, the nurses did not get enough safety and protection kits. So, they joined the workers to protest for their demands. The workers from the healthcare of New York stood alongside the strikers. They made different slogans to protest. They wanted to get treats from the company like the company treat the customers. The nurses also showed some placards with slogans. They mentioned that they, all the nurses, were with the vital workers of different companies. They demanded PPE, payment of salary the companies did not pay, hygienic working place, and protective measures.
The US faced many deaths. Besides, many workers of different companies like Amazon, Target, and Walmart had died. The situation was becoming worse. Therefore, the workers needed enough support from the companies. But, whatever they had claimed, they did not get most of them.
For this reason, they were asking the buyers not to pass the picket line. They were requesting general people not to buy any products from those companies. However, they asked them to do this to support them. But, Whole Foods, Target, and Amazon negated the claims of the strikers. Moreover, according to them, the strikers were just a small part of their workers. They declared to take every necessary step to recover the situation.
Reactions on Amazon Walmart Target mega strike
In an ordinary sense, owners of big companies and the general people do not always support protests. But, there was a mixed reaction to Amazon Walmart Target’s mega strike. In this phase, we are going to discuss responses from the politicians, Amazon, and Target.
Politicians
Some high-profile politicians like Bernie Sanders and Kamala Harris had unity and support for the striking workers.
Amazon
Amazon declared that they did not face much problem after the strike. Again, they said that all the tasks and business were running well. Furthermore, they did not get much impact because of the strike. About 840,000 workers and employees were working around the whole world in this pandemic. So, the company did not face much problem because of the strike.
Firstly, the company had agreed to follow some ways to sanitize the working places. Therefore, the workers would remain healthy and away from the virus.
Then again, the company had planned to spend about 800 million USD for safety purposes. They made the plan to spend it in the initial six months of 2020. They are very concerned about this pandemic. Besides, they had given enough face masks, hand sanitizer, and disinfectant wipes to the employees. Moreover, they also had declared to spend about 4 billion USD for the workers’ safety purposes.
Target
Like Amazon, Target also took some necessary steps to better the workers’ health during this pandemic. They had declared to spend about 300 million US dollars during this pandemic for the workers. Moreover, the company will spend the whole amount of money for the betterment of the workers. It includes hazard pay, higher wages, paid leave for sickness, and child care.
Wrapping up with Amazon Walmart Target mega strike
This COVID-19 pandemic was very hazardous throughout the whole world. Besides, the world economy had a dramatic fall. People became jobless all over the world. Moreover, pay-cut had become an ordinary matter in many companies. The workers did not get enough facilities from the companies. Therefore, the workers in different companies in different countries started to strike for their demands. There were many factors for these strikes during this pandemic. The needs contain a lack of safety in the workplaces and low pay or hazard pay. So, the Amazon Walmart target mega strike came to be.
Their protest was also for poor social distancing and lack of the necessary protective equipment for COVID-19. Maybe, these protests started from different regions of the world. But, the main reason and demand were the same. There were strikes also in companies like Amazon, Walmart, and Target. A lot of workers took part in this strike. They demanded proper life safety from the companies. However, big companies like Walmart, Amazon, and Target allocated a considerable amount of money. Thus, they controlled the dire situation and did not face many problems and losses.
