 On Tuesday, May 25, Warehouse Workers for Justice and our allies rallied in front of BlackRock’s corporate headquarters in downtown Chicago to demand accountability from Amazon and its shareholders for #EyesOnAmazon Shareholder Day of Action. Watch the video of the action on our Facebook page here. Warehouse Workers for Justice and communities and organizations across the nation took to the offices of Amazon’s shareholders just days before the annual general meeting to push these large investors to vote with communities and not continue to enable the bad behavior of Amazon management. The Chicago event started with an introduction and rallying chants led by WWJ Executive Director Roberto Clack. Jason Perez (Action Center on Race and the Economy) then spoke on how Amazon has created issues in our communities.  “Amazon and BlackRock are the folks who stand in the way of defunding police and funding our communities,” Perez said. Then, he elaborated on how Amazon has negatively impacted the health of communities. “Amazon literally pays police departments to put Ring security into people’s homes,” explained Perez. “It teaches communities that the best way to be safe is to surveil your own neighbors, call the police on your own neighbors—it gets away from real solutions from violence.” After, Clack led the crowd in observing a moment of silence to commemorate the loss of George Floyd due to police violence, exactly one year before.  Brighton Park Neighborhood Council Speaker Andrea Ortiz followed with a demand for accountability for Amazon invading the southwest side of Chicago, without any consideration for the needs of the community. In between, Clack continued to lead rallying chants to charge the crowd. Rayshonda Brown, a former Amazon worker and current WWJ member, shared their testimony. Brown is a mother to multiple children and also recently had a baby last November. She worked during the busy Christmas season to make sure she could buy presents for her children.  “At Amazon, they treat you as slaves,” Brown said. “If you say you can’t lift the box, Amazon will say: you gotta do it; this is what you are getting paid for.” Brown continued to speak on the bleak working conditions, including how Amazon tried to hide how many workers got sick and how workers lost jobs, benefits, and housing as a result. “It’s time for Amazon to step up and do better,” Brown said in her final remarks. “It’s also time for Amazon workers to speak up and let the investors know that y’all invested in them and y’all are making profit and it’s like we’re still working for nothing—it’s not right.”  Eli Newell, an organizer with the Sunrise Movement, addressed the distinct connection between environmental issues and labor issues. “Climate justice is worker justice," Newell explained. The rally concluded with Clack outlining the people’s demands to Amazon and its investors. The people demanded that investors should stand with communities and not Amazon management by voting:
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 In our continued COVID-19 outreach efforts, Warehouse Workers for Justice and Temp Worker Union Alliance Project held a COVID-19 Vaccine Discussion. The panel discussion on the different COVID-19 vaccines was led by Dr. Jewel Younge, College of Pharmacy at University of Chicago. The virtual event shared the latest insight into the vaccine safety, efficacy, and distribution plans and ended up with an open Q&A session.
If you missed the event but would still like to learn more, you can watch the video on-demand on our Facebook page here. To get updates on events like these and more, join our mailing list and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Looking Back and Looking Forward: WWJ Community Air Testing Kick-Off Transit Justice Event5/27/2021
 In March of 2021, Warehouse Workers for Justice (WWJ) launched ‘Transit Justice,’ a four-part virtual event series on the problem of diesel pollution and why we need a just transition that holds companies accountable for protecting workers and the environment. WWJ concluded the four-part virtual event series with its Community Air Testing Kick-Off Party at the Nowell Park Community Center in Joliet on Saturday, May 15th. Watch the video on-demand on our Facebook page. The kick-off event celebrated the launch of our community air testing project to monitor the air pollution outside of North America’s largest inland port in Will County, IL. Bringing together warehouse workers, youth, and community-based organizations, our collective goal is to shed light on the public health and environmental impacts caused by the area’s massive warehousing and logistics industry.  The air testing project will go on throughout Summer 2021, with data collecting going through August and a report slated for publication this fall. These community-sourced data will help us understand the environmental damage to our air caused by diesel pollution from heavy truck traffic.
Join us this summer as we continue this community-led research project, and let’s build the power necessary to create a greener future for Will County’s workers and residents. We would especially like to give a shout out to the Sunrise Movement Joliet, Just Say No to Northpoint, the JJC Sustainability Union, and Joliet City Councilman Cesar Guerrero for standing with us for clean air and good jobs. Let's hold the powerful warehousing and logistics industry accountable to our people and our planet! To get updates on events like these and more, join our mailing list and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. WWJ COVID-19 Vaccine Outreach Updates: Joliet Pop-Up Clinic and Overcoming Vaccine Hesitancy5/27/2021
 At the end of April 2021, Warehouse Workers for Justice launched the Worker Outreach Program. This initiative aims to provide education, resources, and support to workers on how to protect themselves, their families, and their communities. We have been partnering with the Illinois Department of Public Health to bring safe, free vaccines to workers and their families across Will County and Kankakee County.  Our first event was our two-part Joliet pop-up vaccination clinic on May 5, 2021 and May 26, 2021 at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church. When folks entered the vaccination site, they were welcomed by our friendly WWJ staff members. WWJ staff set up a table to help people schedule their appointment to receive the second dose to ensure full vaccination coverage. The Warehouse Workers for Justice organizers did extensive outreach to help members in the Joliet community, who are often underserved, get vaccinated. Through in-person and digital outreach, more than 80 people showed up to get vaccinated at the site location. The majority of vaccine recipients were of the Spanish-speaking community.  Now that there is wider availability and access to the COVID-19 vaccines, more people are fortunately able to get vaccinated. Illinoisians are now able to do a walk-in vaccination even without needing to schedule an appointment. At this time, the main challenge that lies in front of our communities is engaging with members of our family and our community to move from vaccine hesitancy to vaccine confidence.
According to a recent TIME/Harris Poll, 59% of people say their decision to get the vaccine was influenced by just having a conversation with friends or family about why they should get vaccinated. That’s why it is essential that we encourage our loved ones and community members to overcome vaccine hesitancy and make a plan to get vaccinated. As part of the WWJWorkerOutreach initiative, we will be hosting a number of in-person and virtual trainings to help folks navigate the sometimes challenging conversations to reassure and encourage our vaccine hesitant loved ones to sign up to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Those interested are invited to fill out this form to learn more.  On Tuesday, May 25 at 11:00AM CT, one day before Amazon’s annual general meeting, we’re going to challenge the institutions who get a vote on Amazon’s future to cast their votes with our communities, not Amazon’s destructive agenda. Join us in Chicago or find an event near you. Amazon is scheduled to hold its annual shareholder meeting on May 26. At that meeting, Jeff Bezos and Andy Jassy will report to investors on the company’s performance over the past year and celebrate the $21.3 billion in profits that the company generated for shareholders in 2020. But this year, more than any other, Amazon’s role in our democracy and economy is also on the agenda at Amazon’s shareholder meeting. The pandemic and murder of George Floyd forced a reckoning over structural racism in America. Over the last year, organizers and activists came together to hold Amazon accountable for its failed pledge that Black lives matter. Activists fought back against Amazon’s expanding partnerships with violent police departments; protested the firing of Black whistleblowers who worked at Amazon warehouses; and fought Amazon’s environmental damage in Black and brown neighborhoods, disproportionately impacted by COVID-19.  Shareholders have filed resolutions challenging the harmful impacts of Amazon’s business practices on the Black and brown communities. These resolutions demonstrate shareholder concern about Amazon’s expanding use of surveillance technology in the workplace and policing communities of color, its exploitative treatment of workers, and its use of market surveillance to solidify corporate dominance and market position. In total, ten shareholder proposals will be introduced at this year’s meeting.
As Amazon’s power and influence has grown, so too has the role of big Wall Street firms at the company. Today five shareholders—Vanguard Group, Blackrock, State Street, Fidelity, and T. Rowe Price—own over $330 billion worth of Amazon stock (that’s $100 billion more than Jeff Bezos’ ownership interest in the company). We hope you can join us in letting Amazon know that the people and the planet matter more than profits. |
