In an open letter Jeff Bezos and Whole Foods CEO John Mackey, a GA coalition, have jointly called on Amazon to strengthen protections for a strained workforce in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. The letter, written by Maura Healey of Massachusetts State AG, with the attorneys general of Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania and DC follow a similar note sent by members in late March .
"Amazon and Whole Foods must take all possible measures to protect their employees and customers during the COVID-19 pandemic," Healey said in a statement linked to the letter. "We again call on these companies to ensure that they comply with state laws and federal guidelines designed to ensure the safety of essential workers during this crisis."
In particular, the note addresses questions about sick leave, security measures, Amazon policies on worker notification and a recent round of high-profile layoffs. This last part was enough to warrant a letter on a similar topic from nine prominent Democratic senators, asking if the company had fired employees in retaliation for reporting unsafe work situations.
Such conduct, if demonstrated, may violate section 11 (c) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act (29 USC ยง660 (c)), as well as the laws of some of our states that prohibit retaliation, "they write. The AG." Even the perception of retaliation during this public health emergency can be used to silence employees who raise legitimate concerns about health and safety measures, and put these employees, their co-workers, customers and the public at risk. "
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The new letter takes it a step further by highlighting the behavior of Whole Foods, owned by Amazon. "We are concerned that our offices and the public will be informed of these serious developments through second-hand reports, rather than hearing directly from Whole Foods," the letter added. Therefore, we ask Whole Foods to provide a description of its policies and processes, if any, that relate to notifying consumers, the public and public health authorities of serious COVID-19 developments in stores. the company".
Amazon, of course, denied the allegations of layoffs and insisted that it had taken the necessary action while employees continued to work during the pandemic. The letter ends by noting that Amazon and Whole Foods "are also seeing a significant increase in sales as consumers rely even more on online shopping and buy more groceries while staying at home."
