According to @CNBC, New York City Mayor #BilldeBlasio has called for an investigation into the firing of Chris Smalls. The Amazon worker who is said to be responsible for organizing the strike.
The strike was activated to to highlight the lack of protection the warehouse workers have, during this viral pandemic.
“I’ve ordered the city’s commission on human rights to investigate Amazon immediately to determine if that’s true,” de Blasio said at a news conference Tuesday. “If so, that would be a violation of our city’s human rights law and we would act on it immediately.”
Amazon denies he was fired because of retaliation. They stated that Smalls received several warnings violating social-distancing guidelines, after coming in contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19. But allegedly he didn’t adhere to any of them.
“Despite that instruction to stay home with pay, he came onsite on March 30, further putting the teams at risk,” the spokesperson said. “This is unacceptable and we have terminated his employment as a result of these multiple safety issues.”
According to reports Smalls and other people walked out to demand better working conditions, due to the viral pandemic. It’s said that 15 workers took place but Amazon disputes that and says only 15 people walked out.
