https://themilitant.com/2018/12/22/we-are-human-beings-not-robots-amazon-workers-protest-conditions/
‘We are human beings, not robots!’ Amazon workers protest conditions
By Helen Meyers
Vol. 83/No. 1
January 7, 2019
Amazon workers and supporters protest outside Shakopee, Minnesota,
warehouse Dec. 14.
Militant/David Rosenfeld
Amazon workers and supporters protest outside Shakopee, Minnesota,
warehouse Dec. 14.
SHAKOPEE, Minn. — Chanting “We’re humans, not robots!” and “Amazon: Hear
our voice!” some 300 Amazon workers and their supporters protested Dec.
14 outside the recently built Amazon warehouse here. Between 30 to 45
percent of the 2,500 workers at the plant are East African, mostly from
Somalia, and they made up a large number of the protesters.
The demonstration was called in response to the company imposing intense
speedup and the workers’ demand that they be treated with dignity. The
rally was sponsored by the Awood Center, a community organization that
advocates for East African workers in Minnesota. Awood is the Somali
word for “power.”
Over 70,000 Somalis live in the state. Awood estimates 60 percent of
Amazon’s 3,000 workers in the area, including at other facilities, are
East Africans.
Protesters cheered as about 40 workers walked off the job at 4 p.m., an
hour before the end of their shift, and joined the rally. More workers
joined after they clocked out.
“They don’t respect us. They want us to work like machines,” Amazon
worker Hibaq Mohammad told the Militant. “They don’t respect our
religion or our health. Ninety-eight percent of workers who get fired
here are fired for not being fast enough. It’s unfair.”
Alamger Mohammad has worked at Amazon for 13 months. “I quit my old job
thinking this would be better, but we are treated like animals, not
humans,” he said.
Abdi Mohammed said, “They work people like robots, change the rate. It’s
constant pressure. If you can’t keep up with the machines you get a
warning. Three warnings and they fire you.”
While the majority of those who joined the protest were from Somalia,
workers from Bangladesh, Mexico, Ethiopia and the United States also
took part. A Mexican worker who walked out said they are all working 60
hours per week because of the Christmas holiday. “You get breaks but
they count that against your rate,” he said.
The Service Employees International Union, the Communications Workers of
America and a sizable delegation of Teamsters, wearing union jackets and
hats supported the protest.
Several of the Amazon workers put on “Teamsters 120” hats. “We’re here
to support the workers, and we want to see an organizing drive of Amazon
workers nationwide,” Wayne Perleberg, a business agent for Teamsters
Local 120, told the Militant.
A number of workers at the rally said they agreed that they needed to
get a union.
One sign read, “Walmart workers support Amazon workers.” Four workers
who came from a Walmart store in the Twin Cities area brought a
solidarity card signed by 17 co-workers that was given to rally organizers.
The Dar Al Farooq Islamic Center in nearby Bloomington brought a busload
of supporters. “People in our community are struggling and we’re here to
give support,” high school student Nabira said.
Bosses disdain for workers’ needs
Khadra Kassim, who told the rally she has worked at the warehouse for a
year and a half, said she almost had a miscarriage after lifting a heavy
box and passing out. She went to the company health office for help, but
was told that because she was new she wasn’t eligible for medical care.
“Nobody called an ambulance, nobody even called my husband,” she said.
“Thank God, my daughter survived.”
Workers who spoke raised the need for management to provide easier
access to conduct prayers, for more Somali managers and other proposals
they thought would cut across discrimination on the job.
Speakers included Ilhan Omar, just elected as the first Somali-American
to Congress and Jaylani Hussein, executive director of the Minnesota
chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
An information sheet distributed by Awood said the workers have been
speaking out and protesting against injustices for months. Because of
this, Amazon management met twice with a delegation of workers from
three facilities, as well as drivers and truckers, together with local
religious and civil rights leaders.
“Although respectful, Amazon management responded to our concerns by
only wanting to solve small individual problems — and not change the BIG
problems that impact us all,” the flyer said. “Some workers have been
offered better jobs if they abandon their community — but they have
refused!”
Amazon spokeswoman Shevaun Brown told the Shakopee Valley News the day
of the rally that “the workers wouldn’t suffer repercussions for walking
out Friday.” She also said that Amazon is looking to hire managers from
the Cedar-Riverside community of Minneapolis, where many Somalis live.
At the end of the rally, protesters marched onto Amazon property. They
chanted at the main entrance as workers inside the building lined the
windows from the second-floor cafeteria to watch. Local, county and
state police appeared within minutes to block the door. As they left,
the workers chanted, “We will be back.”
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In This Issue
Front Page Articles •‘Yellow vest’ protests force gov’t concessions
•New Year’s greetings to our readers behind bars!
•Join SWP in taking books, ‘Militant’ to workers doors
•‘We are human beings, not robots!’ Amazon workers protest conditions
•Turkish rulers threaten to attack Kurds seeking autonomy in Syria
•Rail bosses push crew cuts, longer trains, risk lives in drive for profit
Feature Articles •‘What does Cuba teach? That revolution is possible’
Also In This Issue •Hungary protests oppose law letting bosses force
overtime
•Workers donate ‘blood money’ bribes to build SWP
•Celebrate Nan Bailey’s five decades building SWP
•UK out of EU is best terrain for workers’ struggles there
•Join fight against prison censorship of ‘Militant’!
On the Picket Line •Mental health clinicians strike across California
•United flight attendants protest crew size cuts, grueling schedules
•Oakland teachers rally for smaller class sizes, higher wages
•Walmart worker hits bosses’ abuses over intercom
Books of the Month •Workers take political power or face ‘Iron Heel’ of
capitalist rule
25, 50 and 75 years ago
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