Amazon worker, 31, says company ‘retaliated against me for speaking out’ after organizing strike

Chris Smalls, 31, organized the strike after working for Amazon for five years

Amazon has fired a worker at its Staten Island warehouse after the man organized a walkout on Monday to demand greater protections from the company amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Father-of-three, Chris Smalls, 31, a management assistant at the facility, was laid off from his job following Monday’s strike. He had worked for the company for five years.

An estimated 50 to 60 employees joined the walkout at the New York facility demanding that it be shut down and cleaned after a worker tested positive for the coronavirus.

‘They pretty much retaliated against me for speaking out,’ said Smalls to the New York Post. ‘I don’t know how they sleep at night.’ 

‘There are positive cases working in these buildings infecting thousands,’ warehouse worker Smalls wrote on Twitter.  

Amazon said Smalls made ‘misleading’ statements about conditions and that he was supposed to be in quarantine and had no choice but to fire him after he came to the facility.

Smalls had even posted on Twitter how the company was not following social distancing measures.  

'They pretty much retaliated against me for speaking out,' said Smalls to the New York Post. 'I don't know how they sleep at night.'

‘They pretty much retaliated against me for speaking out,’ said Smalls to the New York Post. ‘I don’t know how they sleep at night.’

Smalls had even posted on Twitter how the company was not following social distancing

Smalls had even posted on Twitter how the company was not following social distancing

Amazon workers at Amazon's Staten Island warehouse went on strike to demand that the facility be shut down and cleaned after one staffer tested positive for the coronavirus

Amazon workers at Amazon’s Staten Island warehouse went on strike to demand that the facility be shut down and cleaned after one staffer tested positive for the coronavirus

Workers say the company 'has still not provided essential protections' during the coronavirus outbreak which has seen some workers become ill

Workers say the company ‘has still not provided essential protections’ during the coronavirus outbreak which has seen some workers become ill

‘Like all businesses grappling with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, we are working hard to keep employees safe while serving communities and the most vulnerable,’ Amazon said in a statement.

‘We have taken extreme measures to keep people safe.’ 

The company said Amazon’s firing of Small was due to his failure to comply with the company’s request that he self-isolate after he came in contact with another employee who tested positive for COVID-19.

By taking part in Monday’s demonstration, he put ‘the teams at risk. This is unacceptable,’ Amazon said in a statement, noting that only 15 of the more than 5,000 employees at the site had taken part in the protest.

Seven workers have fallen sick with the coronavirus at the Amazon plant in NYC

Seven workers have fallen sick with the coronavirus at the Amazon plant in NYC 

New York state attorney general Letitia James called Smalls’s dismissal ‘disgraceful’ and pointed out that the law protects employees’ right to protest.

‘At a time when so many New Yorkers are struggling and are deeply concerned about their safety, this action was also immoral and inhumane,’ she said in a statement.

James said she was exploring options for legal recourse and had asked the National Labor Relations Board to investigate the incident.

Meanwhile a group calling itself the Gig Workers Collective said it was maintaining its call for Instacart’s independent contractors to strike despite new safety measures announced late Sunday by the company.

‘Workers aren’t filling orders until our full demands are met,’ a spokesperson said.’This isn’t just about us, we want to also protect our customers.’

The workers allege the online retail giant has mishandled its response to the pandemic and want the entire facility to be disinfected and sanitized

It was not immediately clear how many of Instacart ‘shoppers’ who are independent ‘gig’ workers, were participating in the stoppage.

Instacart, which shares the same complex as Amazon in Staten Island recently announced plans to hire some 300,000 people to help meet demand for grocery delivery, said in a statement it was ‘fully operational’ and that the walkout caused ‘no impact.’

‘We’re continuing to see the highest customer demand in Instacart history and have more active shoppers on our platform today than ever before picking and delivering groceries for millions of consumers,’ said the San Francisco company, which operates in some 5,500 cities in the US and Canada. 

The firm said Sunday it would provide additional health and safety supplies to full-service ‘shoppers’ and would set a ‘default’ tip based on customers’ prior orders.

The labor group, whose numbers were not known, called the Instacart moves ‘a sick joke.’

NYPD Community Affairs officer watches as Amazon workers at Amazon's Staten Island warehouse strike in demand that the facility be shut down and cleaned

NYPD Community Affairs officer watches as Amazon workers at Amazon’s Staten Island warehouse strike in demand that the facility be shut down and cleaned

‘We had been asking for hand sanitizer for many, many weeks. But apparently the company is capable of sourcing some with two days of work? Where was this before,’ the group said in a Medium post.

A separate group of workers at the Amazon-owned grocery chain Whole Foods meanwhile called for a one-day stoppage or ‘sickout’ on Tuesday to press demands for improved health measures.

The group calling itself ‘Whole Worker’ said it was seeking guaranteed paid leave for quarantined workers, among other things.

With much of the US population locked down, Americans are increasingly relying on delivery of food and other supplies from firms like Amazon.

A report by NBC News said Amazon workers at two Southern California warehouses had presented demands to shut down the facilities for two weeks for sterilization while employees are tested for the virus.

Amazon has announced plans to hire an additional 100,000 people in the US, while rival Walmart is seeking to expand its workforce by 150,000.

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk