Around one hundred New Yorkers require a page out of Amazon ’s book this afternoon and made a one - day speech to the $ 80 million penthouse flat of CEO Jeff Bezos : 275,000 signed postulation involve broad alteration from a company which is becoming more nearly consociate with brutish workings conditions , surveillance , and the Trump administration ’s war on the undocumented than its state credo of “ customer obsession . ”
Protesters from over a 12 sect change state out en masse shot , chanting and deem signs , carrying the petitions in the frowning cardboard box that became a staple of New York ’s many rallies against Amazon ’s program to open a second headquarters in Long Island City . Included in this care package to Bezos was also an aluminum blanket of the sort being used in America ’s overcrowded density camps along the southern perimeter as well as bottles of fake piss mean to exemplify the deeplytroubling reportsof the company ’s warehouse employee and contractor being unable to employ the public convenience without fall critically behind on their work load .
“ They are sleeping on cold floor . They are not being contribute toothbrushes . They are not being given piss or soap , ” Anshu Khadka of immigrant right radical DRUM said to the gang , as well as the dozens of pedestrians who had stopped to heed on the diametrical side of West 26th Street . “ That is how ICE treats our people , and Jeff Bezos and Amazon enables it . ”
Photo: Bryan Menegus (Gizmodo)
Activists and Amazon employee themselves have taken event with the company providing cloud computing baron to Palantir ’s Project Gotham , a data analytics tool which is used by molding protection . It has also been speculated that Rekognition , the company ’s in - house facial acknowledgment software , is supplied to Immigration and Customs Enforcement , though neither company has comment definitively on the matter . As lately as last week employees circulated an e-mail petition internally calling on Amazon to “ cease cut-rate sale of surveillance engineering to law enforcement ” among other demand , according to a screenshot share with Gizmodo .
“ Amazon Web Services really makes more money than just plain Amazon , and the way that they make all of this money is by taking our tax dollars by having remunerative contracts with the government activity to cater cloud services to the constabulary and crank , ” Jacinta Gonzalez , a field managing director with activist group Mijente told the bunch around Bezos ’s 5th avenue flat around noon . “ They have figure out how to not only exploit their doer , not pay taxis themselves , but take our money to be able-bodied to create the infrastructure that ICE needs to do the raids that they ’re threatening to do this week . ”
President Trump has vowed to storm up expatriation across the country in late Clarence Day , though large - ordered series foray havereportedlynot yet occupy spot .
Photo: Bryan Menegus (Gizmodo)
represent the ongoing scandal of Amazon ’s warehouse experimental condition was a former employee by the name of Ibrahim , a recent immigrant from the Ivory Coast . He claimed the society ’s mellow - than - minimal hourly wage enticed him to apply though he quickly see that the tenacious hours and backbreaking piece of work were not deserving the modest pay bump .
worker talk to Gizmodo over the years have complained of repetitive strain injury developed from the sort of Labour Party performed in Amazon warehouses , while more chilling narrative have distinguish knockout harm and deaths in the company ’s many fulfillment and sortation centers . Later today outside Minneapolis , worker at one fulfillment center are look to go out on strike . The strike has take out wide support from union like the United Food and Commercial Workers , reform-minded politico likeElizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders , as well as other Amazon employees — both clean - collar engineers who project tofly out to Shakopee , MNto patronise the action in soul as well as blue - leash pilot light delivering with Prime Air who released a argument of solidarity .
Historically , Amazon has been staunchly anti - jointure . military campaign personal digital assistant at storage warehouse have antecedently claimed to have been fired for their attempt to agitate for corporate natural process , and doer unrest at grocery subsidiary Whole Foods lead to the dissemination of an anti - Federal training video , which wasleaked to Gizmodolast September , and recirculated latterly when a clip was have on John Oliver ’s Last Week Tonight .
Ibrahim, a former Amazon warehouse workerPhoto: Bryan Menegus (Gizmodo)
The 275,000 signature tune were spread amongst seven different petitions , each criticizing Amazon ’s coziness with law enforcement and/or ICE , either through its cloud contract or sale of heavily criticize facial recognition software . Uncharitably you could say the goals and demands of the action were unfocused ; more realistically , each chemical group is attempting to chip by at a aspect of the same problem , which to reword a figure of today ’s speakers , is a company favor profit over morality .
After some hemming and haw with both uniformed and plainclothes police officers , as well as building security , five protesters were allow a few foot inside the vestibule of 212 fifth Ave to leave Bezos his disordered loading . Uninvolved footer speed to pull out their earpiece and film as the crew made its direction up fifth Avenue to Amazon ’s collective offices on thirty-fourth Street beside the Midtown Amazon Books locating . Protesters were seemingly not allowed inside the building , and the company go down to commit a representative to fetch a second set of petitions . Gizmodo requested to know if Bezos has received the petitions . By press time a congressman for Amazon has not yet responded .
AmazonBernie SandersDonald TrumpJeff Bezos
Photo: Bryan Menegus (Gizmodo)
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