Amazon said in March that it would stop shipping non-essential items due to the COVID-19 crisis, but an employee who is protesting working conditions at a Michigan plant said the e-commerce giant continues to ship dildos and other non-essentials.
Workers at Amazon’s Romulus, Michigan, order-fulfillment center walked out on April 1 to protest working conditions and lack of transparency in their facility after management neglected to inform its staff when the first positive COVID-19 case was confirmed. So far, three people who worked in the warehouse have tested positive, the Detroit Metro Times reported.
Amazon’s Romulus warehouse, referred to as DTW1, employs 4,000 workers. Workers have complained about a lack of protection against the virus, such as not practicing social distancing. The workers want the facility to be shut down for two weeks. They say this would be possible if Amazon lived up to its promise to shop shipping nonessential items.
In March, the online retailer announced that it would prioritize the shipment of essential items such as toilet paper, disinfectant products and medical staples, and temporarily limit shipments of non-essentials.
“They should not be selling non-essential items,” Michigan warehouse employee Mario Chippen said. “If you go on the website, all of the essential items are sold out. Until you restock and until you close this building, shut it down.”
He added: “Dildos are not essential items. Books for kids, yes, but dildos? No.”
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Workers say they are seeing an increase in online shopping, and as a result, some products such as household staples and medical supplies are out of stock, according to an email obtained by Business Insider. “With this in mind, we are temporarily prioritizing household staples, medical supplies, and other high-demand products coming into our fulfillment centers so that we can more quickly receive, restock, and deliver these products to customers,” the email said.
So far, at least 10 Amazon facilities have reported workers testing positive for coronavirus.
Since the outbreak, Amazon has been extremely busy and announced that it was hiring 100,000 more people for its warehouse and delivery networks. It also promised to raise workers’ pay by $2 through April.
Coronavirus is just making Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos more powerful, New York Post reported. His company, worth a whopping $160 billion, added $3.4 billion to its bottom line since the pandemic, the Detroit Metro Times reported.
Protests have not been limited to the Michigan warehouse. An Amazon warehouse in New York fired an assistant manager after he led a strike demanding protective gear and hazard pay.
