Upward of 300 Amazon employees are set to walk off the job starting Tuesday over what they describe as unsafe treatment of workers during the coronavirus pandemic.
The nationwide protest is being organized by United for Respect, New York Communities for Change and Make the Road New York, The Hill reports.
Other strikes have taken place in Staten Island, Chicago and Detroit after employees have tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. One Amazon warehouse employee in California has died of the virus, but it is not know where he contracted it.
"I'm calling out this week because I'm scared to come to work and can't trust Amazon to keep me and my co-workers safe," Jaylen Camp, an Amazon worker in Romulus, Michigan, told The Hill.
"We have to make an impossible choice every day: go to a workplace that's not safe or risk losing a paycheck in the middle of a global recession. Rather than take real steps to protect our health, Amazon would rather stall, lie and fire the people who speak up," he added. "We will not be intimidated. Our health and everyone's health is too important."
Amazon has said it will do more cleaning of facilities and enforce social distancing. The company has raised wages by $2 an hour and offered paid time off for anyone exhibiting a fever. But employees say they have not been given personal protective equipment and the rules have not been applied consistently, The Hill reported.
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