DETROIT (WWJ) -- On the morning of Black Friday -- the busiest retail day of the year -- local organizers joined striking Amazon workers in Detroit's Midtown to protest the online retail giant.
Starting at 9 a.m. Friday morning, protestors held up signs and marched in front of Amazon-owned Whole Foods, located on Mack Ave in Detroit.
Part of the worldwide "Make Amazon Pay Day of Action," this local demonstration was sponsored by Our Revolution.
"Amazon is squeezing every last drop it can from workers, communities and the planet," Our Revolution said in announcing the event.
Protestors and those on strike are pressuring Amazon to pay a living wage, pay a fair share of taxes and make changes to limit the company's impact on the environment.
WWJ's Ryan Marshall spoke to Susan Steigerwalt, an organizer with local chapters of Our Revolution and Democratic Socialists of America.
"Amazon is being unfair and unjust," said Steigerwalt, "Unfair to workers, not recognizing unions. Unfair to the environment because of the amount of pollution, particularly from trucks in predominantly black and brown areas where the warehouses are."
While activists' long-term demands are steep, Steigerwalt said that Amazon should start with fair pay and workers' rights.
As an organizer, she wants to see Amazon recognize the unions that have already been created and stop illegally fighting union organizing efforts.
Steigerwalt was especially grateful for the sacrifice of striking workers all over the world, who she said walked out at "great risk" to their own job security.
According to Our Revolution, over 80 unions and organizations across 32 countries participated in the "Make Amazon Pay Day of Action."
