Amazon workers set to strike on Halloween if they aren’t given election day off to vote
Amazon workers are set to strike on Halloween if they are not given election day off so they can vote.
More than 6,500 corporate and tech employees at the online giant have backed an internal proposal to give all staff a paid day off on 3 November.
Some staff have even written to company founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, the world’s richest man with a personal wealth of $200 billion, to push the idea.
But the Amazon Employees for Climate Justice group says it has not heard anything back from the company’s bosses.
Now they plan on shutting down the company for 15 minutes at 11an Pacific Time on 31 October by blocking facilities used by Amazon trucks and vans, the New York Times reports.
Organisers say they are working with environmental group Seattle 350 to take the action in Washington state and hope they will be joined in the protest across the US.
“It is really to disrupt work for the day, for at least 15 minutes, and to hold space and send a message that this is a very critical election,” said Valerie Costa, the interim executive director of 350 Seattle.
“We think it is really important that the country’s second largest employer gives time off to vote given that people are waiting in line for hours to vote.”
Amazon employs more than 600,000 people in the US and says that workers can request time off to vote at the beginning or end of their shift.
But the firm says that how long they can take off and if they get paid depends on state law where they work.
A string of retailers, including Walmart, Best Buy and Patagonia have announced they will close for several hours on election day to allow staff to vote, while others are offering paid time off.
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