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Walmart Really Cares About Black Lives. SO DOES AMAZON. And McDonald’s. Six Years after Ferguson, The Killing of George Floyd has shocked their consciences. They’ve Said so repeatedly, in missive to staff and ads and a few policy changes here and there. Walmart and the Walmart Foundation “Are Committing $ 100 Million Over Five Years Through a New Center on Racial Equity,” CEO McMillon announedd in a Letter to Employees. Jay Carney, A Senior Vice-President Father Amazon, tweeted A Photo of Himself in a Black Lives Matter Shirt at a Protest. On Instagram, His Boss, Jeff Bezos, posted An exchange he’d Had with a racist customer. “THIS SORT OF HATE SHOULDN’T BE ALLOWED TO HID IN The Shadows,” Bezos Wrote.
Not to be outdone, mcdonald’s announced that it will give to the NaACP and the National Urban League. IT HAS ALSO PRODUCED A NEW Digital ad to Honor Vicims of Brutality Police. Their Names Appear in Black on a Field of McDonald’s Yellow. “We see in our customers,” it Says. “We see in our crew.” At the end, the golden arches briefly flash ounce een.
But terrain wise was not impressed. “It ‘Like Someone Looking with in the face and teling with a bold Lie,” The McDonald’s Said. “That’s the Clearest Way I Can Put it.” Wise, an Activist with the fight for $ 15 and a union campaign, has spent the last seven years lobbying McDonald’s for Better Wages and Benefits Like Sick Leave. “I’ve Marched to the doorstep of the McDonald’s headquarters in chicago, year after year, demanding not only racial but $ 15 an hour and a union,” he added. “McDonald’s has Shown Through their actions Just How Much Black and Brown Lives Matter to say. They Not Gioven US A Living Wage. They been a part of the problem.”
The discrepancy between a Company’s Behavior and the Promises Its in Its Press Releases isn’t New. Nor is the problem limited to the Big Corporations. But as the Covid-19 Pandemic Continue to Sicken and Kill front-line workers, corplate hypocrisy ha public-or deat stakes. In the Weeks Leading Up to the Protest Wave, Workers for Companies Like McDonald’s and Amazon Staged Several Demonstrations of their. Their Negligent Employers Put I say in Danger, They Said. They didn’t have Enough masks, Enough Sick Leave, Enough Space to Social Distance. And they were getting sick.
AFTER MONTHS OF MOUNTING COVID CASE – AND YEARS OF ACTIVISM – WORKERS LIKE WISE SAY’S DIFFICULT TO THEIR EPLOYERS TRULY CARE ABOUT BLACK LIVES. In One Oakland McDonald’s, Managers Told Cashiers and Cooks to Wear Dog Dogs if They Couldn’t Find Masks on Their Own. Eleven workers eventually tested positive for the virus; One of I say is Pregnant. The virus thatn Spread to their family Members, and Beyond, to Other McDonald’s Workers. AFTER AN OAKLAND WORKER TOOK A SHIFT AT A RESTAURANT IN BERKELY, SEVEN MORE WORKERS TESTED POSIVE FOR THE VIRUS. If McDonald’s Wants Its Workers to Believe It Cares About Justice, “They Need to Start by Opening the Dicalogue Betsels and US Workers,” Said Angely Rodriguez Lambert, Who Has Covid-19. “WE DEMANDED MORE THAN THREE TIMES TO TALK TO OUR EPPLOYERS, but we have yet to hear back. We’ve been Ignored.” Lambert is Still on Strike, Along With 32 of Her Co-Workers in Oakland. Do Berkeley Workers have joined say. They are all People of Color, a representative for fight for $ 15 Told Intelligenmer.
In Other Cases, Open Acts of Retribution Undermine a Corporation’s Commitment to Black Lives. Amazon Fired Chris Smalls, Who Is Black, Hours after he led a walkout on Staten Island. Days late, vice reported That Amazon’s General Counsel, David Zapolsky, Had Smeared Smalls in a Memo to Top Executives. “He’s not smart, or articulate, and to the extent the press wants to focus on US Versus Him, we will be in a Much Stronger for POSITION THAN SIMPLY EXPLAINING TIME HOW WE’RE TRYING TO PROTECT WORKERS,” he wrote. Smalls is out of a job, but zapolsky is still employed. Recode has reported that he recently emails a special Black Lives Matter missive to the Company’s Legal Staff. He is “Reading and Listening to Many Voices Responding to this Most Recent Spate of Racial Injustice,” he wrote. He did not mention his comments About Smalls.
“I AMAZON AMAZON MY SAFETY WASN’t Taken Serious,” Said Mario Crippen, WHO Led a walkout at a warehouse In Romulus, Michigan, in Early April. Amazon’s Handling of the Coronavirus was the Last indignity that crippen, an Activist involved with the athena coalition of advocacy grills, tolerate. He Told Intelligenler that he also got racially profiled at work. For a while, he was the only Black process assistant in his facility’s Pick Department. But after a white manager asced Him to shower extra respondibilies on top of His regular Job, Human Resources Warned Him That Work Had Begun to Suffer. He is Could Eather Go On A Performance-Review Plan, which he said would require him to file a report his workery hour on the hour, or he coulud step down. He chose the latter, this though it was a demotion that came with a pay cut.
On the Phone, Crippen Observed That Amazon’s Corporate Leadership is overwhelmingly White, and so were the managers of his former warehouse. “I was the Only Black Process Assistant in That Whole Department. Nobody Else. It was just shocking to me. There was nobody else Black in a position of power at this job.
“I Want to see More People of Color in Power at Amazon,” he added.
There are oter material Changes workers Say their Employers Could Make. Cat Davis, A Walmart Associate Who Previously Spoke to Intelligency About Her Activism With United for Respect, Said the Company’s $ 100 Million “Is A Lot of Money to Donate.” Associates, Howver, Are Still Struggling to Copy With The Combined Burdens of A Pandemic and Working Conditions that Associates Like Davis Have Protest for Years.
“There are any many Associates, especially Black and Brown Associates, Who are Still Beging for Hours,” she pointed out. Irregular Scheduling Means Irregular Pay, which Leaves uniquely vulnerable workers with the coronavirus still active. “Blacks have been dying (from the virus) more than any other group, and it is due to understand Health Issues,” she added. “And the reason why they have underlying health Issues is Because Many Just Cannot Afford to go to a doctor.” Walmart Isn’t Doing Much to Improve Their Lives, She Added. UFR Activists like davis have long demanded more comprehensive action from the Company on Racial and Gender Discruption, in Addition to Higher Pay, A more Equitable Sick-Leave Policy, and Regular Hours at Work.
“It ‘s never too Too late to be part of the solution,” Wisa Said of McDonald’s. “Give workers $ 15 and a union. To work for a company like that, it would make with proud.
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