Current Events > Amazon workers to walk out in protest of company's inaction on climate change

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https://www.wired.com/story/amazon-walkout-climate-change/

Over the past year, tech workers across the country have walked out to protest a wide range of issues. Google employees objected to the handling of sexual harassment claims. Riot Games workers demonstrated against forced arbitration. And WayFair staff left their desks after learning that the retailer profited from migrant detention centers run by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. Now it's Amazon's turn.

Over 900 Amazon employees have signed an internal petition pledging to walk out over their employers lack of action on climate change. The demonstration, scheduled to start at 11:30 am PST on September 20, will mark the first time in Amazons 25-year history that workers at its Seattle headquarters have walked off the job, though many are taking paid vacation to do so. Most of the workers who have signed on so far work in Seattle, but employees in other offices, including in Europe, have indicated an interest in the event as well. The protest is part of a global general strike led by 16-year-old climate change activist Greta Thunberg taking place ahead of the United Nations Climate Action Summit on September 23.

WIRED spoke with three Amazon employees who signed the petition and plan to join the walkout. Its incredibly important that we show up and support the youth who are organizing this kind of thing, because I think its really important to show them, hey, you have allies in tech, says Weston Fribley, a software engineer who has worked at Amazon for over four years.

"I have a chance here to influence Amazon to become a climate leader and I think thats the biggest impact that I personally can bring to the fight," says Maren Costa, a principal UX designer who has worked at Amazon for over 15 years.

In the petition, Amazon Employees for Climate Justicethe group of workers organizing the walkoutoutlined three specific demands for the company and its CEO, Jeff Bezos. They want Amazon to stop donating to politicians and lobbying groups that deny the reality of climate change, to stop working with oil and gas companies to optimize fossil fuel extraction, and to achieve zero carbon emissions by 2030.

The workers arent merely calling on Amazon to offset the impact of the greenhouse gases it emits into the environment; they want it to stop using fossil fuels entirely. Converting fully to renewable energy is an ambitious goal, especially for a logistics company that relies on gas-guzzling cargo planes and trucks to deliver goods to consumers doors in two days or less. But the employees joining the walkout say Amazon is the most ambitious company on the planet, and leading scientists have made it clear for years that drastic action is necessary to halt the climate crisis.

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The protestors' two other demands were informed, in part, by news reports published over the last several months. In April, Gizmodo reported that Amazon Web Services, the companys cloud-computing division, has aggressively courted the business of oil, gas, and coal companies. In March, Andrew Jassy, the CEO of AWS, even spoke at a fossil fuels conference in Houston, where he stressed Amazons close relationship with the industry. The workers who plan to walk out want AWS to no longer sign custom contracts to help fossil fuel companies to accelerate oil and gas extraction, according to their internal petition.

I think its totally legitimate to say this is a really harmful industry, its accelerating climate change, it pollutes environments and communities in all these different ways, and its really dangerousand were not going to do business with it, says Fribley.

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Good
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Good, but they have a lot more reasons than climate change to walk out.

those demands aren't even realistic. How do you expect our entire country to get to work? Walk?

We have no conceivable way to get off of fossil fuels entirely. The majority of us ...need fossil fuels to survive. You can buy an electric car, and guess what? You gotta charge it with electricity FROM fossil fuels.
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Solidarity
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Godnorgosh posted...

God bless

When do we get to infiltrate their HQ FFVII-style

are you advocating for terrorism?
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Neat
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They'd just get replaced with another batch of Millennials.
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The fascist oligarchs in charge don't care about the future of humanity. The only things they understand are money and fear

Clearly climate change is the fault of Amazon, and exclusively America. China and India couldn't do any wrong, could they???
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People take action against something in own country: uhhhhh [thing] is actually worse in [other country]

People take action against something in [other country]: uhhhhh stop trying to interfere in the affairs of other countries, SJWs, and do something useful at home

deupd_u posted...

Clearly climate change is the fault of Amazon, and exclusively America. China and India couldn't do any wrong, could they???

China leads the emissions by practically double our output but we're not allowed to point that out because it would be uhhh "racist" or something.
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Lol.

Hopefully Amazon fires all of them.
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DifferentialEquation posted...

Amazon fires

are those still ongoing?
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Caution998 posted...

those demands aren't even realistic. How do you expect our entire country to get to work? Walk?

We have no conceivable way to get off of fossil fuels entirely. The majority of us ...need fossil fuels to survive. You can buy an electric car, and guess what? You gotta charge it with electricity FROM fossil fuels.

They should be pushing on reducing, not eliminating. There are always ways to reduce, but it is near impossible to eliminate.

Make small changes, or show directive in making these changes.
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Oh no, they've done plenty. Like recently I've stopped getting plastic bubble mailers, AND NOW GET FUCKING STYROFOAM ONES!
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ThyCorndog posted...

DifferentialEquation posted...

Amazon fires

are those still ongoing?

Bezos.gif
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DifferentialEquation posted...

Hopefully Amazon fires all of them.

Keep hoping. They have 30,000 positions open for tech and management roles.

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this is comical to me, a bunch of millennial hipsters in seattle making six figures walking out because their global ecommerce company uses too much jet fuel.

meanwhile there are thousands of ppl in their FCs pissing in jugs and sleeping in tents to deal with their hellish work conditions, but of course the corporate office drones won't walk out for that.

i believe in climate change and think it is a genuine issue, but so many of the ppl that champion the cause are utterly detestable. at the end of the day it's the ultimate cause for slacktivists, you get the smug satisfaction of yelling at companies/the govt to save the environment but dont have to actually make any sort of sacrifices on your own

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Looks like they are about to have a lot more free time on their hands, and Amazon is going to be looking for new employees, now is the time to apply for a job with them for people that are looking for work.
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If you value fealty to Jeff Bezos over the habitability of the planet, your priorities are severely out of whack.
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this can't be real.
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Zero carbon emissions is not literally eliminating fossil fuels. It's about net zero emissions: engaging in carbon removal (carbon offsets) or literally buying carbon credit for carbon removed by others (carbon credits).

If Amazon wanted to, it could, in theory, just buy its way to net zero carbon emissions without reducing any emissions and buying credits if enough were available. Of course, it would probably make a lot more sense to find ways to reduce, engage in carbon offsetting (planting trees, for example), then buying the remainder in carbon credits, which reward others monetarily for reducing emissions.
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Antifar posted...

If you value fealty to Jeff Bezos over the habitability of the planet, you're a bad person.

I value the convenience of Amazon and their stock price over this "climate justice" nonsense.
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Antifar posted...

hough many are taking paid vacation to do so

So it's a nothing burger

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What, those weird paper shipping bags, padded with more paper, isn't good enough?

DifferentialEquation posted...

"climate justice"

Hehehe they just throw words together now hoping they stick.

It's like flinging poop at the wall by this point.
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Bump
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Climate Justice?

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That's stupid
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All employees should have their company by the balls. We should stop protecting corporations.
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deupd_u posted...

Clearly climate change is the fault of Amazon, and exclusively America. China and India couldn't do any wrong, could they???

Caution998 posted...

deupd_u posted...

Clearly climate change is the fault of Amazon, and exclusively America. China and India couldn't do any wrong, could they???

China leads the emissions by practically double our output but we're not allowed to point that out because it would be uhhh "racist" or something.

I like how this talking point comes from the same people who despise globalism and think America should only worry about America. Anything but doing something, I guess.
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