I have worked at the Amazon MSP1 fulfillment center in Shakopee, MN for nearly four years and have a long history of organizing for better working conditions. Managers have targeted me before, but that harassment has only gotten worse during the pandemic. Now, Amazon is retaliating against me for speaking out about the risks of coronavirus in my warehouse, and I need your help.
Tell MSP1’s General Manager: I #StandwithHibaq
On June 24th, I emceed a press conference with my coworkers about how risky it is to come to work, just as we learned how closely Amazon is tracking the infections in our warehouse – without sharing that information with us.
On July 5, a manager told me I had too much Time Off Task or “TOT.” (Any minute we are not scanning something because we are going to the bathroom, waiting to get an assigned workstation, washing our hands– that gets logged as TOT.) I was presented with a variety of suspicious claims: one document penalized me for TOT before I had even clocked in for the day, and another contained a block of time that management could not account for. Despite these inconsistencies, I was given a final warning, the last step before being fired.
Tell MSP1’s General Manager: I #StandwithHibaq
Amazon is desperately trying to stop us from organizing. They’re pushing feel-good ads and empty statements, while frontline workers don’t have adequate protections to keep us and our families safe from COVID-19. Amazon has used social distancing and references to “internal policies” as pretexts to surveil, target, and fire whistleblowers around the country. We don’t feel safe, and our families and neighbors are at risk. Amazon has taken away our covid pay and access to the unpaid time off we need to protect vulnerable family members and co-workers. Meanwhile, Jeff Bezos is making billions, and Amazon’s stock price is at an all-time high.
I am appealing this warning, but after being harassed just for protecting the health of my coworkers, my family members, and my neighbors, I have no faith in Amazon’s appeal system. That is why I am asking Amazon shoppers to stand against the flagrant retaliation that workers, particularly Black workers, are facing across the country.
Will you tell Amazon: Stop silencing workers?
– Hibaq Mohamed
BDS-LA.org