We want to apply as much pressure on Amazon during July Prime Week, because these special sales events are the periods of highest public visibility for Amazon, periods of most intense worker exploitation, and periods where disruption by workers can maximize economic impact and most meaningfully leverage worker power to influence the bosses. But we can also carry out a variety of actions to pressure the bosses at any time—or ideally, continuously at all times!
There are many different kinds of actions that workers can carry out to pressure Amazon over its terrible safety policies and working conditions, requiring varying levels of investment or organization. Possibilities include:
- Action #1—Thermometer photos + heat map: This collective action is detailed in the Amazon Prime Heat Action page. There's a form to write your heat stories and upload photos of the temperature at your worksite, and we'll gather all of those into a heat map and report to share publicly, in line with the heat report created by Amazon KSBD workers and the Warehouse Worker Resource Center in 2022.
- Action #2—Distribute buttons/stickers/posters/flyers: we can coordinate together to develop common messaging across worksites. Get creative! Past slogans have included "We Are Not Robots/I Am Not a Robot" "Heat Kills," "Fired Up for Heat Justice," "Prime Shoppers Beware, Amazon Air Is Unfair," "We're Walking Out Before We Pass Out," "We Can't Stand the Heat/Amazon is Cooked," "Amazon Prime is a Crime," etc.
- Action #3—Engage coworkers with a petition or survey: The ALU Safety Bill of Rights petition is one that workers at any workplace can adopt and organize coworkers to sign. The National Council on Occupational Safety and Health (COSH) also offers a guide and sample survey for workers who want to conduct a safety survey with coworkers.
- Action #4—Coordinated legal/regulatory action: Such as mass OSHA complaint. Check out our page on how to file an OSHA complaint, with sample complaint letters in English and Spanish. National COSH also offers helpful guides and sample documents on their website to help you successfully file a complaint with OSHA.
- Action #5—Walkout or march on the boss: These actions can be paired well with a petition-signing campaign and button distribution. EWOC and Labor Notes both have useful introductory materials on when, how, and why to organize a march on the boss.
And that's just a few of the options available to pressure Amazon. We'll continue to discuss these and many more in the months of organizing ahead of us. If you have a good tactic, strategy, or story of worker victory to share, let us know!