Workers and supporters SHUT DOWN San Leandro Amazon Warehouse

​https://ift.tt/39V02Tt the morning of Aug. 1, Amazon workers and supporters shut down Amazon warehouse DSF4 in San Leandro, Ca. for several hours to expose the corporation’s hypocrisy and utter disdain for essential workers. The cul-de-sac where DSF4 is located was jammed full of honking cars that brandished signs calling for workers’ rights and racial justice. A motorcycle crew was in position to block off roads and keep protesters safe while activists held a socially distanced rally with music and revolutionary speeches. Many Amazon workers at the facility watched in quiet excitement — while their warehouse bosses were clearly panicking and refused to talk to organizers.A coalition including Bay Area Amazonians, Tesla workers, Gig Workers Collective, People’s Strike Bay Area, Workers United Against COVID-19, and the Party for Socialism and Liberation held a car caravan to deliver a petition to the warehouse. The fiery and energetic action blocked entrances and exits to the facility — halting all shipping and loading activity — to demand the warehouse be shut down for deep cleaning, and all workers be given two weeks off with pay to quarantine.The facility has seen four workers fall ill to COVID-19 in the past month, but management has not taken responsible action to ensure the safety of their workers by stopping operations and cleaning the warehouse. People around the United States have recently demonstrated a profound rage toward Jeff Bezos and Amazon leadership, which has boasted about its solidarity with the Black community and its care for essential workers, while simultaneously denying workers hazard pay and crushing warehouse organizing attempts under the pretense of “social distancing violations.”Jeff Bezos has made an enormous amount of money during the pandemic, as Amazon is a popular and convenient shopping choice for those who have the means to stay home and socially distance. But these products do not just magically appear on people’s doorsteps.Speeches by activists with the Bay Area Amazonians outlined this contradiction: Essential workers risk their lives every single day to transport millions of dollars worth of product, but who pockets the profits this work generates? Many of Amazon’s warehouse employees and drivers live paycheck-to-paycheck and belong to the same Black and Brown communities which bear the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic’s deadly impact. Meanwhile, Jeff Bezos is making around $150,000 every single minute, and is on track to be humanity’s first trillionaire. Who is the benefactor?Who is the benefactor between the capitalist owner and the masses of essential workers who handle Amazon’s daily processes and distribution? Well, Amazon would like for its employees to cling to the idea that Bezos is the benefactor, since he owns the warehouses, owns the trucks, instructs workers on what they should do and pays them a wage. But that is a flawed line of reasoning that seeks to keep workers quiet and to manufacture gratitude toward corporate leadership. In reality, the worker is the benefactor, and the capitalist is a parasite who appropriates the value the worker generates and tosses back a few scraps. This action highlighted that without all the back-breaking work of Amazon’s warehouse employees and drivers, Jeff Bezos would not be making any money.Read the full article on Liberation News: https://ift.tt/3k9m6yj via /r/communism https://ift.tt/2PzcfUF