Walk out to say enough is enough!

Walk out to say enough is enough

Wed, May 31st  |  noon-1pm local time  |  meet at the Spheres and worldwide*

The walkout is ON! 2,153 employees have pledged to walk out around the world so far, with 1,002 in Seattle. 
The more pledges, the stronger our voice. Please join 2,153 of our coworkers (and counting!) and pledge to walk out!

Why are Amazon Employees for Climate Justice (AECJ) and Amazon's Remote Advocacy community leaders calling for a walkout?

  • RTO, layoffs, and a broken Climate Pledge all show leadership is exhibiting Day 2 behavior and taking us in the wrong direction.
  • Employees need a say in decisions that affect our lives such as the RTO mandate, and how our work is being used to accelerate the climate crisis.
  • Our goal is to change Amazon's cost/benefit analysis on making harmful, unilateral decisions that are having an outsized impact on people of color, women, LGBTQ people, people with disabilities, and other vulnerable people.  

Your info is confidential: we will not share it with Amazon or anyone else.

  • Why are we asking for it? To contact you with details once we know whether we have enough people to walk out.
  • *For all locations, we'll email you information about how to walk out in your city closer to the date. Follow us on Twitter for streaming of the walkout: @AMZNforClimate. 
I will join the walkout!

What are our demands? 

We demand that climate impact is put at the forefront of our decision-making
The Climate Pledge is broken, in so many ways. From severely undercounting our footprint to disproportionately polluting communities of color, to increasing carbon emissions 40% since 2019, to killing clean energy legislation, it's clear that leadership still sees climate impact as an inconvenience rather than a strategic focus. As one of the most successful companies in one of the richest countries in the world, we have a responsibility and opportunity to take a lead and decarbonize as rapidly as what the science demands. We are far from doing that. The urgency of the climate crisis means we don't have the luxury of accepting incremental progress. We have the resources and passion to place our impact on vulnerable communities and the planet at the forefront of our business, and be part of the solution instead of the problem.

We demand flexibility in how and where we work
The world is changing, and Amazon needs to embrace the new reality of remote and flexible work if it wants to remain an innovative company that attracts and retains world-class talent. Many of us, including women, people of color, and workers with disabilities report that having autonomy in where we work improves not only our relationship with it, but also our ability to be seen and treated as equals. Amazon's top-down, one-size-fits-all RTO mandate undermines the diverse, accessible future that we want to be a part of. Amazon must return autonomy to its teams, who know their employees and customers best, to make the best decision on remote, in-person, or hybrid work, and to its employees to choose a team which enables them to work the way they work best.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Join us! Scroll up to submit your pledge ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

FAQs

Is there a virtual component of the walkout?
Yes! If you're remote you'll be emailed with instructions on how to participate virtually and in different cities. The action will also be live streamed on Amazon Employees for Climate Justice's twitter @AMZNforClimate.

I don't want to pledge until I know what I'm committing to do.
Pledging means you plan to walk out with us on May 31 in support of the two demands listed here. We're still finalizing the logistics of the walkout, and will keep you updated if you pledge, but pledging now just shows your support and tells the other Amazonians that as of now you are with them!

Why is it focused on Seattle?
Seattle is the public home of Amazon and has the largest density of workers. It's important we send a message in the place most of us are and the place most symbolically Amazon. If you are in Seattle, we do hope you will come to the walkout in person if you are able since that will have the biggest impact. If you're not in Seattle, having a presence/showing support underscores the scope and the impact of Amazon's Day 2 behavior. 

Can Amazon retaliate if I show up?
You taking action as part of this walkout is legally protected activity. At this point, many thousands of workers have participated in walk-outs across tech over the years without retaliation for attending.

How does the walkout work? Do I need to sign out and tell my manager?
The walkout is during a time when many of us would take lunch, so we invite you to join us during that time when we tend to have a break in our workday. Telling your manager, or not, is up to you and everyone's personal choice. 

How are RTO and climate related? 
This is about Amazon going in the wrong direction, and losing trust. We want to stop Amazon from deepening its path into Day 2. 

How is Amazon breaking the promises of the Climate Pledge?
Amazon is actively accelerating this crisis on our watch. Some examples (see more here): 

  • Amazon's emissions have increased 40% since announcing the Climate Pledge. [source]
  • Amazon cut the Shipment Zero initiative, backing out of a key component of the Climate Pledge to clean up our truck pollution [source] 
  • Amazon is severely undercounting our emissions. That's deceiving us AND the public. Amazon, unlike other major companies, also doesn't report the emissions generated by employee commutes, with the exception of Amazon owned shuttles.  Those emissions are going to go way up with so many people suddenly going to the office. [source]
  • AWS AI and machine learning are being used by Big Oil to greatly accelerate oil and gas discovery and extraction. Example: “production optimization,” “wells, rigs and pipelines” [source]
  • Amazon killed clean energy legislation that would have required our data centers to be 100% renewable by 2040. [source]
  • Amazon opens most of its warehouses in neighborhoods that are home to higher numbers of people of color, and where many communities are already disproportionately burdened with the environmental and health effects associated with industrial activity. Amazon has no timeline or plan for stopping the pollution that is causing disease, especially for children in these neighborhoods. [source, source]

Amazon says it will be net zero by 2040, is that good enough?
Amazon created the Climate Pledge in response to our walkout in 2019. It was good progress that Amazon made public commitments, with dates, to reduce emissions to net-zero by 2040. However, that goal is too late, and “net” means Amazon can try to offset its emissions, instead of actually reducing them. Real climate leadership is committing to zero emissions by 2030. [source] 
Further, we're very concerned that we are not taking the actions necessary to even achieve the existing Climate Pledge goal. Scientists from over 200 countries this year told us that we have less than two years to reduce global emissions instead of increasing each year. We are going the wrong way.  We need to start transitioning our company to one which can still operate without emitting carbon.

Why are we doing a walkout instead of going through internal channels, and why now?
We've had SIM ticket campaigns, six-pagers, slack channels and petitions with 30k plus employees–still, we've barely been acknowledged by company leaders. Walking out gives us a louder microphone and a more effective way to push Amazon back in a direction that aligns with the long-term interests of the company, of shareholders, of employees, and of the planet. We know this walkout date is close to the shareholder meeting where shareholders can propose changes at Amazon, but this is our company, too. We want what's best for Amazon. Long term thinking and employee voices are a significant component of the Day 1 culture that's turned Amazon into such a successful company, and we're trying to reignite it. 
 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Join us! Scroll up to submit your pledge ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~