Workers at Amazon, Whole Foods, Instacart, and Target Are on Strike and Need Your Solidarity

Summary

In a historic strike, workers at Amazon, Whole Foods, Instacart, and Target are striking today and asking customers to stage a one-day solidarity boycott. They’re fighting for what they deserve — and we should have their backs.

With the coronavirus pandemic turning from a health crisis into an economic crisis, workers in the United States are suffering more than they have in decades. Unemployment claims in recent weeks have hit 30 million — easily the highest on record. Lines at food banks are stretching on interminably. Businesses are shuttered — some, no doubt, indefinitely.

But some industries are doing just fine. Grocery stores, online retailers, and delivery services are booming. Since the pandemic reached the United States, Amazon announced it would hire nearly 200,000 new workers, and Instacart 550,000 new workers. And while these essential workers are lauded as “heroes,” the conditions at their workplaces show the profound lack of respect their employers actually have for them.