Global breakout of deadly coronona virus is indeed chewing into each economy without fear or favor. With the United States recording highest numbers of infections worldwide, workers at e-commerce giant Amazon Inc. (AMZN) are afraid of being infected with this virus as they continue with their day to day activities at their workplace.
On the first day of April, workers from the company held demonstrations around one of the company’s warehouses near Detroit. This was the second time in a week the employees were staging demonstrations citing fears of getting infected with the virus while on their line of work.
The company said its Romulus, Michigan branch has over 4,000 workers and out of these workers only 15 or less participated in the protest. Amazon further confirmed this demonstration did not affect delivery of client orders in any way.
Uneasy and uncertainty started creeping in after an employee from the specific branch tested positive for coronavirus.
At the beginning of the week more than a dozen Amazon employees at an Amazon fulfillment centers in Staten Island, New York took participated in a walkout due to the same issues. A similar scenario was also replicated at a company facility near Florence, Italy.
In response, Amazon sacked the organizer of the walkout citing that he allegedly put other employees at great risk by violating a company’s order to stay at home for a two week period.
The organizer is said to have had close contact with the employee who tested positive for the disease.
Citing a Facebook live stream from a participant in the demonstration around Detroit, the employees are demanding the company to shut down the facility then initiate a cleaning and fumigation process immediately. In addition they also want the company to take care of medical bills for all people who contracted the virus from the facility.
Nonetheless, Amazon assured that it had taken utmost measures to protect its employees. Among the measures include; changing protocols to ensure workers observe social distancing, procuring safety supplies and intense cleaning.
