A group of Amazon employees based in Seattle are marching out Wednesday to protest the retail giant’s contribution to the climate crisis, as well as job cuts and mandates to return to the office.
Organized by Amazon Employees for Climate Justice, the walkout will include over 1,900 employees and kicks off at 12 p.m. local time, organizers said online.
Some employees will meet at the Spheres in Seattle, conservatories with plants from over 30 countries, while other participants will participate worldwide.
The walkouts will be livestreamed at www.twitter.com/AMZNforClimate.
Organizers said on their website that Amazon has put mandates in place requiring workers to return to the office. The company has also laid off employees and failed to fulfill the Climate Pledge the company made in 2019.
“Employees need a say in decisions that affect our lives such as the RTO mandate, and how our work is being used to accelerate the climate crisis,” organizers wrote. “Our goal is to change Amazon’s cost/benefit analysis on making harmful, unilateral decisions that are having an outsized impact on people of color, women, LGBTQ people, people with disabilities, and other vulnerable people.”
In a statement to the Associated Press, Amazon said the energy has been good at the company’s South Lake Union property in Seattle since returning to the office.
“As it pertains to the specific topics this group of employees is raising, we’ve explained our thinking in different forums over the past few months and will continue to do so,” Brad Glasser, an Amazon spokesperson, told the AP.
Organizers asked Amazon in December 2018 to put together a plan to reduce the company’s fossil fuel dependency. Over 8,700 employees later signed an open letter about the company’s negative impact on the earth’s climate, organizers wrote in a Medium post.
In response, Amazon released information about the company’s carbon footprint and announced the launch of a Shipment Zero program aimed at reducing vehicle emissions.
Amazon employees decided to move forward with their plan because the company’s response wasn’t rigorous enough to combat the current climate crisis, organizers said.
Shortly before a walkout in 2019, Amazon’s founder Jeff Bezos announced The Climate Pledge and promised that Amazon would be considered net-carbon-zero by 2040. In February 2020, he also announced the Bezos Earth Fund and pledged to donate $10 billion to organizations combating climate change.
But Amazon Employees for Climate Justice said the Climate Pledge is flawed because Amazon undercounted the company’s carbon footprint. The company, organizers said, disproportionately polluted communities of color and has increased carbon emissions 40% since 2019. The employees also said the company hasn’t supported clean energy legislation.
“It’s clear that leadership still sees climate impact as an inconvenience rather than a strategic focus,” organizers wrote.
Amazon’s return to office mandate, issued in February 2023, was another reason cited in the walkout.
By May 1, employees were required to return to the office at least three days per week with the exception of a “small minority,” Andy Jassy, CEO at Amazon, wrote.
The company made its decision based on factors such as the ease of learning in an office together, surrounded by colleagues. The company also said collaborating is easier in person and teams are more connected that way.
But Amazon Employees for Climate Justice said it’s not so simple and Amazon’s policy is a one-size-fits-all approach.
More than 20,000 workers have signed a petition calling for the company to reconsider its decision to make employees return to the office, the Associated Press reported.
“Many of us, including women, people of color, and workers with disabilities report that having autonomy in where we work improves not only our relationship with it, but also our ability to be seen and treated as equals,” organizers said.
The employees said Amazon’s inability to stick to its Climate Pledge and allow workers to choose how and where they work has made them lose trust in the company.
“By joining this walkout, you’ll join a group of Amazon employees who are pushing Amazon to do better on climate and intersecting issues, and together we can make change at our company,” organizers said.
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