Amazon fires warehouser who complained of 'positive cases'; counter-accuses amid protest

Amazon warehouse employees and Instacart delivery workers joined protests Monday to press safety demands, highlighting risks for workers on front lines of supplying Americans largely sheltering at home due to COVID-19 pandemic.

An estimated 50 to 60 employees joined a walkout at an Amazon worker warehouse in New York borough of Staten Island, demanding that facility be shut down and cleaned after a worker tested positive for coronavirus.

"re are positive cases working in se buildings infecting thousands," warehouse worker Christian Smalls wrote on Twitter.

Amazon, responding to an AFP query, said Smalls made "misleading" statements about conditions and that he was supposed to be in quarantine.

"Like all businesses grappling with ongoing coronavirus pandemic, we are working hard to keep employees safe while serving communities and most vulnerable," Amazon said in a statement.

"We have taken extreme measures to keep people safe." After protest, Smalls was officially fired by Amazon.

When contacted by AFP for comment, Amazon confirmed decision, which it said was due to Smalls's failure to comply with company's request that he self-isolate after he came in contact with ar employee who tested positive for COVID-19.

By taking part in Monday's demonstration, he put " teams at risk. This is unacceptable," Amazon said in a statement, ting that only 15 of more than 5,000 employees at site had taken part in protest.

New York state attorney general Letitia James called Smalls's dismissal "disgraceful" and pointed out that law protects employee's right to protest.

"At a time when so many New Yorkers are struggling and are deeply concerned about ir safety, this action was also immoral and inhumane," she said in a statement.

James said she was exploring options for legal recourse and had asked National Labor Relations Board to investigate incident.

Meanwhile a group calling itself Gig Workers Collective said it was maintaining its call for Instacart's independent contractors to strike despite new safety measures anunced late Sunday by company.

"Workers aren't filling orders until our full demands are met," a spokesperson told AFP. "This isn't just about us, we want to also protect our customers." It was t immediately clear how many of Instacart "shoppers" who are independent "gig" workers, were participating in stopp.

Instacart, which recently anunced plans to hire some 300,000 people to help meet demand for grocery delivery, said in a statement it was "fully operational" and that walkout caused " impact." 

"We're continuing to see highest customer demand in Instacart history and have more active shoppers on our platform today than ever before picking and delivering groceries for millions of consumers," said San Francisco company, which operates in some 5,500 cities in US and Canada.

firm said Sunday it would provide additional health and safety supplies to full-service "shoppers" and would set a "default" tip based on customers' prior orders.

labor group, whose numbers were t kwn, called Instacart moves "a sick joke." 

"We had been asking for hand sanitizer for many, many weeks. But apparently company is capable of sourcing some with two days of work? Where was this before," group said in a Medium post.

A separate group of workers at Amazon-owned grocery chain Whole Foods meanwhile called for a one-day stopp or "sickout" on Tuesday to press demands for improved health measures.

group calling itself "Whole Worker" said it was seeking guaranteed paid leave for quarantined workers, among or things.

With much of US population locked down, Americans are increasingly relying on delivery of food and or supplies from firms like Amazon.

A report by NBC News said Amazon workers at two Sourn California warehouses had presented demands to shut down facilities for two weeks for sterilization while employees are tested for virus.

Amazon has anunced plans to hire an additional 100,000 people in US, while rival Walmart is seeking to expand its workforce by 150,000.

Im credit: AP