![]() Paul metro area’s large community of East African immigrants, 100,000 and growing. Many of the workers at Amazon’s Shakopee fulfillment center are drawn from the Minneapolis-St. “We say to corporate greed-it will not stand today, it will not stand tomorrow, it will not stand in the future.” “We will not accept the treatment of people - our neighbors, our friends - like robots,” said Jaylani Hussein, the executive director of the Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MN). “The truth is Amazon needs us in order to make Prime Day a success… We’re all going to keep fighting together until we get the pay and working conditions we deserve.” ![]() Pilots, drivers, order pickers, packers, “we’re all in this together,” Russo said. Amazon has grown to become the most powerful corporation in the world, Russo noted, adding “Amazon needs to harness that power for good.” The rally also heard from Michael Russo, Teamsters Local 1224 member, who works as a cargo pilot for Amazon contractor Atlas Air and is a strike preparation committee chair. “How do we advocate for a better Amazon? Together!” “Those executives in Seattle can’t pack all these boxes by themselves,” Fribley said. That is why I am here-because I am not alone.” “Amazon workers have no voice in decisions that affect our safety and our communities,” Fribley said. “Thank you for having the courage to do this.” He read a few of what he said were 100 support letters collected in one day from Amazon tech workers in Seattle. The crowd also heard from Weston Fribley, an Amazon software engineer from Seattle who is an activist with Amazon Employees for Climate Justice. Management demands the best from their workers. Some people left injured, some couldn’t keep up with the required work pace, and some couldn’t bear the stress, quitting because staying “just wasn’t worth it any longer.”īrady stayed, she said, “to make it better for me and all my co-workers.” She explained: “If you want to see change, you just don’t go-you stay and you fight… Amazon can do better. ![]() Only five people from that group remained, Brady reported. When she started working at Amazon 18 months ago, she said, she was part of a group of 70 new staff. ![]() Injured Amazon worker Meg Brady reported how the fast-paced demands of the work took a toll on her health and her co-workers. “We are tired of Amazon workers being hurt on the job… Keeping up with increased workloads is just too much.” “We are striking… because we are humans-we are not robots,” said Sahro Sharif, the emcee of the rally on the picket line, who has worked for a year at Amazon’s Shakopee fulfillment center as an order picker. Amazon worker Sahro Sharif: “We are striking because we are humans - we are not robots.” | Minneapolis Labor Review The low prices and quick delivery from Amazon come at a high cost to the workers at a fast-paced Amazon fulfillment center, the crowd learned from workers. A Facebook meme countered: “I don’t know who needs to hear this…but you don’t need anything from Amazon today.” Planned by Amazon workers organizing with the Awood Center, the action came on Amazon’s much-hyped “Prime Day,” a day of discounts to encourage shoppers to buy something from the online retailer and become a subscriber to its services. A few truck drivers chose to not cross the picket line and drove away. Semi-trailer trucks trying to enter or leave the Amazon property were forced to wait until the 200-plus picketers moved to the sides of the entrances to let them pass. ![]() The workers’ picket line was joined by a throng of supporters from the local labor movement and other community supporters. SHAKOPEE, Minn.-The eyes of the world were on Shakopee, Minn., on July 15, where 30-50 workers at the vast Amazon fulfillment center staged a one-day strike to protest working conditions. Picketers blocked a truck from entering the driveway to the Amazon fulfillment center in Shakopee. ![]()
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