5月1日，也是国际劳动节，来自亚马逊、Instacart、全食和Shipt的工人联合起来进行为期一天的罢工。罢工的主要组织者克里斯蒂安·斯莫斯告诉记者，这些工人中的大部分会请病假，其余的会参加店面示威新闻周刊。
预计至少有20家亚马逊仓库的工人将离开美国和60家国际仓库，包括德国、加拿大和西班牙的建筑。
斯莫斯说，这四家公司的员工希望彼此合作。
斯莫斯认为，为期一天的罢工将足以获得公司的回应，而不会危及工人的工作或亚马逊的其他报复。
“整合所有这些其他实体的原因是，在我们的需求得到满足之前，我们不会停止动员，”斯莫斯说。“我们现在都有一个共同的目标，那就是在工作中感到安全和受到保护。”
工人们要求强制关闭有阳性病例的建筑至少14天。需求清单还包括更多的个人防护设备(PPE)和清洁用品，等待COVID-19测试的员工的带薪休假，大流行期间的危险津贴，公司对设施中病例数量的透明度，无限的无薪时间延长至6月1日，以及大流行期间因拒绝工作而被解雇的员工的复职。
“这是一个生死攸关的问题，但像亚马逊这样的公司对员工、媒体或公众并不透明，也不诚实，”组织者在一份新闻稿中表示。
该新闻稿还驳斥了亚马逊高级副总裁杰伊·卡尼的说法，即亚马逊不知道有多少员工的病毒检测呈阳性。该小组将美国135个仓库中的500多个阳性病例制成表格。
据斯莫斯称，他在组织了3月30日的抗议活动后被亚马逊解雇，抗议活动要求亚马逊关闭工人COVID-19检测呈阳性的仓库。亚马逊称，斯莫斯因违反公司强制隔离和安全措施而被解雇。
斯莫斯说，自从他被解雇后，他收到了来自美国各地希望动员起来的一线工作者的许多信息，其中包括亚马逊员工费沙·奥斯曼(Faiza Osman)，他周日在明尼苏达州举行了一次罢工。
2020年3月30日，亚马逊员工抗议斯塔滕岛仓库的工人安全条件。
新闻周刊联系了罢工的四家公司。亚马逊和全食超市对组织者的说法提出质疑，组织者称一些要求，如个人防护装备，没有得到满足。
“虽然我们尊重人们表达自己的权利，但我们反对劳工团体在这场前所未有的健康和经济危机中传播错误信息和对亚马逊做出虚假声明的不负责任的行为，”亚马逊发言人丽莎·莱万多夫斯基(Lisa Levandowsky)表示。
在声明中，亚马逊将口罩、体温检测、洗手液、增加休息时间和增加工资列为向员工提供的措施之一。但斯莫斯称，如果没有他的示威游行和随后的解雇，这些行动都不会发生。这引起了纽约官员的关注，并促使纽约市市长比尔·白思豪和纽约司法部长莱蒂西亚·詹姆斯对斯莫斯的解雇展开调查。
根据提供给新闻周刊通过全食公司，该公司已经实施了增加工资和福利，以及新的清洁和社会距离协议。全食超市的一位发言人说:“该组织的声明歪曲了全食超市应对此次危机的全部行动，并不代表我们95，000多名团队成员的集体声音。”。
“我们的团队一直在努力提供新的政策、指导方针、产品特性、资源、增加的奖金和个人防护装备，以确保购物者在这一关键时刻的健康和安全，”Instacart在一份声明中表示。
斯莫斯告诉我新闻周刊罢工将持续一天，因为害怕参与者会看到来自亚马逊的报复。然而，他说，在新的冠状病毒大流行中，让人们意识到各个公司的仓库里发生了什么是很重要的。
“我们希望真相大白。“我们想让公众知道这些建筑到底有多少案例，”斯莫斯说。“对他们来说，最好的情况是关闭里面有箱子的建筑。他们能做的最糟糕的事情就是什么也不做。人们实际上正因这种病毒而死去。”
更新，04/29/20，下午1:23:此报道已被更新以从目标中删除一条声明。
ESSENTIAL WORKERS PLAN STRIKE AGAINST AMAZON, SHIPT, WHOLE FOODS AND INSTACART
Workers from Amazon, Instacart, Whole Foods, and Shipt are joining together in a one-day strike on May 1, which is also International Workers Day. The majority of these workers will call out sick, while the remaining will partake in storefront demonstrations, Christian Smalls, a lead organizer for the strike told Newsweek.
Workers from at least 20 Amazon warehouses are expected to walk off the job in the U.S. and in 60 warehouses internationally, including buildings in Germany, Canada and Spain.
Workers from the four companies are hoping to act in conjunction with one another, Smalls said.
Smalls believes the one-day strike will be enough to garner a response from the company without jeopardizing the jobs of workers or other retaliation from Amazon.
"The reason behind incorporating all these other entities is because we're not going to stop mobilizing until we have our demands met," Smalls said. "We all have one common goal right now and that's to feel safe and protected at work."
Workers are demanding the mandatory shutdown of buildings with positive cases for a minimum of 14 days. The list of demands also includes more personal protective equipment (PPE) and cleaning supplies, paid leave for employees waiting on COVID-19 tests, hazard pay for the duration of the pandemic, company transparency on the number of cases in facilities, unlimited unpaid time to be extended to June 1, and reinstatement of employees terminated for refusal to work during the pandemic.
"This is a matter of life or death, but companies like Amazon have not been transparent or honest with workers, the media, or the public about the number of cases in their facilities," organizers said in a press release.
The release also disputes Amazon's senior vice president Jay Carney's claims that Amazon is unaware of how many workers have tested positive for the virus. The group tabulates there are over 500 positive cases in over 135 warehouses across the United States.
According to Smalls, he was fired by Amazon after organizing a March 30 protest calling for Amazon to close warehouses where workers tested positive for COVID-19. Amazon said Smalls was fired for violating company-enforced quarantine and safety measures.
Since his termination, Smalls said he has received many messages from frontline workers across America hoping to mobilize, including Faiza Osman, an Amazon-employee who staged a walkout on Sunday in Minnesota.
Amazon employees protest worker safety conditions at a Staten Island Warehouse on March 30, 2020.
Newsweek reached out to the four companies targeted by the strike. Amazon and Whole Foods disputed the claim from the organizers that some demands, such as PPE, aren't being met.
"While we respect people's right to express themselves, we object to the irresponsible actions of labor groups in spreading misinformation and making false claims about Amazon during this unprecedented health and economic crisis," said Lisa Levandowsky, an Amazon spokesperson.
In the statement, Amazon listed masks, temperature checks, hand sanitizer, increased time off, and increased pay as among the measures being provided to their workers. But Smalls argues none of these actions would have taken place without his demonstration and subsequent firing, which drew scrutiny from New York officials and prompted New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and New York Attorney General Letitia James to open an investigation into Smalls' dismissal.
According to a statement provided to Newsweek by Whole Foods, the company has implemented increased pay and benefits, as well as new cleaning and social distancing protocols for their workers. "Statements made by this group misrepresent the full extent of Whole Food Market's actions in response to this crisis and do not represent the collective voice of our more than 95,000 Team Members," said a Whole Foods Market spokesperson.
"Our team has been diligently working to offer new policies, guidelines, product features, resources, increased bonuses, and personal protective equipment to ensure the health and safety of shoppers during this critical time," Instacart said in a statement.
Smalls told Newsweek that the strike will last one day for fear that those who participate will see retaliation from Amazon. However, he said, it was important to bring awareness to what is happening in the warehouses of the various companies amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.
"We want the truth out there. We want the public to know the amount of cases these buildings really have," said Smalls. "The best case scenario is for them to close down the buildings that have cases in them. The worst thing they could do is not do anything. People are actually passing away and dying from this virus."
Update, 04/29/20, 1:23 p.m.: This story has been updated to remove a statement from Target.
