26 April 2020: Amazon Minnesota strike
From On This Day in Working Class History by Working Class History
April 26, 2026 · 1 min
About this episode
This episode discusses the Amazon strike in Minnesota on April 26, 2020, where workers protested against the firing of a colleague during the COVID-19 pandemic.
On this day, 26 April 2020, workers at the Amazon fulfilment centre in Shakopee, Minnesota, walked out on strike in protest at a colleague being fired for staying home during the Covid-19 pandemic. Workers claimed that over 50 members of the predominantly Somali workforce participated in the spontaneous work stoppage after the company sacked a worker called Faiza Osman who stayed home in order to protect her two children from the novel coronavirus, despite the fact that Amazon had informed workers they were allowed to stay home. Amazon claimed that fewer than 25 out of 1,000 workers took part. Strikers were also protesting against Amazon's decision to terminate its unlimited unpaid leave policy, despite coronavirus cases being reported at over half of its 110 warehouses. Following the walkout, Osman was reinstated by the company. More information, sources and map: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/9801/amazon-workers-strike Our work is only possible because of support from you, our listeners on patreon . If you appreciate our work, please join us and access exclusive content and benefits at patreon.com/workingclasshistory . See all of our anniversaries each day…
People in this episode
Host: Working Class History
Topics covered
- labor strike
- Amazon
- COVID-19
- workers' rights
- protest
- employment policy
Keywords
- Amazon strike
- workers protest
- COVID-19
- labor rights
- Faiza Osman
- Shakopee
- employment policy
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Amazon
Places: Shakopee, Minnesota
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