Amazon Workers Strike During Prime Day in Historic US Work Stoppage
Amazon warehouse workers in Minnesota are staging the company's first major US strike during its massive 48-hour Prime Day event to protest strict quotas and working conditions.
Amazon kicks off its expanded 48-hour Prime Day shopping event just as warehouse workers in Shakopee, Minnesota initiate the first major work stoppage in the company's US history. These employees choose the company's busiest time of the year to demand better treatment, highlighting tensions between Amazon's intense productivity demands and worker well-being.
The strike roots in a long history of worker organizing at this specific fulfillment center, which heavily employs East African Muslim immigrants. Workers report facing impossible quotas, such as picking 320 items an hour, while still trying to secure basic accommodations like legally mandated prayer breaks and schedule adjustments during religious fasting periods.
With support from the Awood Center, a local non-profit advocating for East African workers, these employees transform individual complaints into a coordinated labor action. This Prime Day strike serves as a significant turning point that potentially inspires other Amazon warehouse workers across the country to confront similar issues regarding job security, safety, and unrealistic performance expectations.