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AOC Applauds Wayfair Employee Strike Over Sale Of Beds To Migrant Detention Center

AOC Applauds Wayfair Employee Strike Over Sale Of Beds To Migrant Detention Center

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Employees of Wayfair march to Copley Square in protest prior to their rally in Boston, Wednesday, June 26, 2019. Employees at online home furnishings retailer Wayfair walked out of work to protest the company’s decision to sell $200,000 worth of furniture to a government contractor that runs a detention center for migrant children in Texas. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Workers at Boston-based online furniture company Wayfair weren’t happy when the company decided to sell beds to migrant detention centers. So employees walked off the job and went on strike.

“Organizing under the newly formed group, Wayfair Walkout, workers are demanding the e-commerce furniture giant cease all current and future business with contractors operating detention centers and establish an ethics code that ‘empowers employees to act in accordance with Wayfair’s core values,’” NBC News reported.

A letter signed by 547 employees was sent to the company’s leadership calling for the end of operations that furnish detention centers.

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“They are also asking the company to donate all profits made from the sale of the furniture to RAICES, a nonprofit that reunites families at the border. 

That amount totals $86,000, according to the unverified Twitter account that broadcast news about the walkout,” CNN reported.

“We believe that the current actions of the United States and their contractors at the Southern border do not represent an ethical business partnership Wayfair should choose to be a part of,” the letter said. 

According to the employees, Wayfair recently fulfilled an order of bedroom furniture worth $200,000 for a facility in Texas housing migrant children and operated by BCFS, a nonprofit government contractor that manages detention camps.

Wayfair said they would not stop providing furniture to the detention centers. 

“As a retailer, it is standard practice to fulfill orders for all customers,” the company replied in a letter signed by the “Leadership Team.”

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., showed support for the walkout in a tweet, saying “This is what solidarity looks like,” as did Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass.