You turn to us for voices you won't hear anywhere else.

Sign up for Democracy Now!'s Daily Digest to get our latest headlines and stories delivered to your inbox every day.

New York City Workers Revolt over Lack of Coronavirus Safety Protections

HeadlineMar 20, 2020

In Queens, New York, Amazon employees shut down a fulfillment center after a worker tested positive for COVID-19. The confirmed case came two days after 1,500 Amazon workers around the world called publicly for Amazon to adopt stronger safety measures. In Brooklyn, employees of the retail store Art To Frames held a protest outside their shop yesterday to demand more protections.

Digna Isabel Rivera: “My name is Isabel. We’re out here of Art To Frames because this morning we came in asking for something so simple as a mask, gloves, hand sanitizer to protect ourselves from the coronavirus. We were denied. We were told that there is no more masks. We were told that there is no more hand sanitizer, that they couldn’t get it. We gave the manager the opportunity to give us a solution, and his only solution was, 'Whoever wants to stay can stay, whoever wants to go can go, but we're not paying you for your time off.’ … I have kids that I have to take care of. I have kids that I have to go home to and that I have to support. I’m here, and I come here to work, because I need to provide for them. And I’m going to be bringing germs to them? And I’m going to go home to be — not to bring germs to them, I’m going to stay home with them, but with what income, if my company, my employer, is not willing to pay me?”

The original content of this program is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Please attribute legal copies of this work to democracynow.org. Some of the work(s) that this program incorporates, however, may be separately licensed. For further information or additional permissions, contact us.

Non-commercial news needs your support

We rely on contributions from our viewers and listeners to do our work.
Please do your part today.
Make a donation
Top