Home » Employment News » Roe vs Wade: Amazon workers demand time off to ‘protest against this assault on our rights”

Roe vs Wade: Amazon workers demand time off to ‘protest against this assault on our rights”

By Nagasunder in Employment News, posted June 29, 2022

Amazon workers infuriated by the Supreme Court's recent decision to overturn Roe vs Wade have asked for "space and time" from the business so they may "grieve" and "protest against this assault on our rights."

Insider claims hundreds of workers at the Seattle-based retail behemoth have signed a petition requesting the company give them time off

A copy of the petition was published online by the "Libs of TikTok" Twitter account.

The letter also demands Amazon “cease operations in states that enact laws that threaten the lives and liberty of abortion seekers, either by denying healthcare in life-threatening circumstances or by criminalizing abortion seekers and providers.”

After disputes about abortion broke out on the company's Slack network on Friday, June 24, Amazon's head of human resources, Beth Galetti, pleaded with employees to "be respectful of everyone's viewpoints."

“Many Amazonians are experiencing strong emotions following the recent US Supreme Court ruling,” Galetti wrote on Friday.

“As a company with 1.6 million employees, there are a lot of different viewpoints on this topic across our team, and we work to be respectful of everyone’s perspectives while also taking care of and supporting our employees’ personal medical needs.”

Amazon said in May it will reimburse employees up to $4,000 per year for travel costs to obtain non-life-threatening treatment, such as abortion and transgender care, in other jurisdictions.

Travel reimbursement up to $10,000 was previously provided by Amazon for the treatment of life-threatening diseases.

However, some Amazon employees feel that the May statement, which was made following a leaked copy of the Supreme Court decision acquired by the online news outlet Politico, doesn't go far enough.

Amazon workers also want the company to “publicly and unequivocally denounce this decision” as well as “organize company-sponsored protests in support of Amazon employees.”

The workers urged management to "extend remote work possibilities to provide employees the choice to migrate to states that choose to safeguard their basic human rights" and to "make matching donations to organizations that promote abortion access."

Roe v. Wade, the historic 1973 decision that legalized abortion throughout the country, was overturned by the Supreme Court in a 5-4 vote on Friday, June 24. The decision allows states with Republican-controlled legislatures and governorships to outright ban or severely limit abortion.

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Up to 28 states may decide to criminalize abortion completely or set tight restrictions on when pregnant women can have one in the next days and weeks.

Many Fortune 500 firms, like Amazon, responded by assuring their staff that they would pay for any travel costs incurred as a result of being compelled to go out of state for an abortion.

Source: NYPost

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