DURHAM, N.C. — Workers across North Carolina are protesting what they call unsafe working conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s part of the Southern Workers Assembly day of action and covers industries from meatpacking to nursing to package distribution.

What You Need To Know

  • The Southern Workers Assembly day of action included meatpackers, bus drivers, nurses and Amazon workers

  • A small group of former and current Amazon workers rallied at an Amazon delivery station in Durham

  • Their demand is for better COVID-19 safety protocols such as temperature checks, making sure everyone is wearing their masks correctly, social distancing, free N95 masks and weekly COVID testing

A small group of former and current Amazon workers rallied at an Amazon delivery station in Durham. Their demand is for employers and the government to make immediate changes to keep workers safe during the pandemic.

“Amazon caring about their profits and not the workers,” said Gloria Lee, who worked at Amazon for more than two years. She says she’s here now to be a voice for current Amazon employees, who she says are too afraid to speak out.

“They are not getting paid for being out of work for COVID,” Lee said. “And they are not practicing social distance. When I worked here, they practiced all social distance. They did a temperature [check] and all.”

Lee, an organizer with the Durham Workers Assembly, wants Amazon to be more transparent about who catches COVID-19 and what department they work in.

She and some of the other organizers handed out flyers and spoke directly to Amazon employees as they walked or drove out after finishing their shifts.

A lot of the workers were too fearful about losing their jobs to join the protest. However, they agreed with Lee when she spoke to them about the need for Amazon to provide employees with N95 masks and weekly COVID-19 testing.

Some of Lee’s other concerns include overworking Amazon employees who are working double shifts because of staffing shortages. And, she wants to see changes for those sick with COVID-19.

“The workers need COVID pay,” Lee said. “If they gonna be out of work 10 to 14 days, you know, they need some kind of way of supporting their family.”