NC Amazon workers join international Black Friday protests
When Amazon workers gathered Friday afternoon at the company’s massive warehouse in Garner, they weren’t alone.
In more than 40 countries, Amazon employees were participating in Black Friday rallies, calling for higher pay and safer working conditions on the busiest shopping day of the year.
Organizers were calling the international campaign “Make Amazon Pay,” with the Triangle-area seeing a pair of protests. The first event, which included non-employee supporters like the progressive political organization Our Revolution, was held early Friday near the Amazon Delivery Station DRT8 in Durham. The second rally was scheduled to take place outside RDU1, a 2 million square foot facility a few miles southeast of downtown Raleigh.
Since opening in August 2020, the 4,300-worker RDU1 has had more than 260 ambulance calls according to Wake County.
“We just feel that we’re protesting because Amazon is still a company that’s exploiting its workers,” said Tim Platt, an employee of Amazon’s RDU5 facility in Durham. “We’re not getting our fair share in terms of the value that we bring to the company.”
Platt also serves as the secretary-treasurer of Carolina Amazonians United for Solidarity and Empowerment, or CAUSE, a labor group seeking to unionize the Garner site. He said CAUSE is still working to build support among the workforce before considering passing out union cards, a necessary step before a future union election.
The post-Thanksgiving period is an especially busy time for Amazon, as the days between Black Friday and Cyber Monday see millions of orders on the e-commerce platform.
“A coalition of organizations are encouraging protests at Amazon sites on Black Friday,” said Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel in an email statement to The News & Observer. “These groups represent a variety of interests, and while we are not perfect in any area, if you objectively look at what Amazon is doing on these important matters, you’ll see that we do take our role and our impact very seriously.”
Nantel said the company offers “competitive wages” while “inventing new ways to keep our employees safe and healthy in our operations network.”
Amazon is the second largest private employer in the country. In mid-November, the e-commerce giant announced it would lay off around 10,000 workers which could extend into 2023.
This story was produced with financial support from a coalition of partners led by Innovate Raleigh as part of an independent journalism fellowship program. The N&O maintains full editorial control of the work.
This story was originally published November 25, 2022 at 3:48 PM.
