BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
X-WR-CALNAME:www.indybay.org
PRODID:-//indybay/ical// v1.0//EN
BEGIN:VEVENT
UID:Indybay-18834290
SEQUENCE:18988799
CREATED:20200617T190700Z
DESCRIPTION:Workers Collective, a new coalition representing workers across Amazon, 
 Whole Foods, Target, FedEx, and Gig Workers’ Collective, joins Bay Area 
 Amazonians in organizing a vigil this Juneteenth 2020 to honor the lives of 
 Black women killed by police violence and our co-workers who have died from 
 COVID-19 or been injured while on the job. \n\nParticipants will gather on 
 June 19 at 8:30 pm to pay their respects and demand justice for the victims 
 of exploitative business practices. A wall projection by the 
 California-based artist AE Marling will be displayed, and attendees will be 
 able to read aloud the names of their co-workers affected by COVID-19 
 during an open-mic session. ProjectionS will take place at the Amazon 
 Fulfillment Center, 6015 Giant Highway,  in Richmond, CA.\n\nAmid the 
 global protests against the murder of George Floyd and countless others at 
 the hands of the police, the vigil explicitly calls attention to the unique 
 plight of Black women. Though Black women are murdered by police at similar 
 rates to men, their stories are regularly omitted from the public 
 narrative. “We would like to widen the lens of the conversation,” says 
 Adrienne Williams, an Amazon driver in Richmond, California. “As 
 blackness intersects with femininity, Black women are even more invisible, 
 violence towards us is even more acceptable, and our voices take even 
 longer to be heard, if ever.”  \n\nEssential jobs are disproportionately 
 filled by women of color — often their households’ primary breadwinners 
 — affirms Pacey Hackett, a Fedex worker in LA, “yet we are denied 
 adequate PPE and sanitary working conditions, not to mention a living wage, 
 putting us at a greater risk of getting sick or dying from .\n\nOur group 
 also takes to task solidarity statements made by these companies in 
 solidarity with black lives. “Their labor practices haven’t changed,” 
 says Tom, a Fedex worker in Oklahoma. “Since the COVID pandemic began, at 
 least 8 workers have died at Amazon, 4 at Whole Foods, 8 at FedEx, and 
 countless others have fallen ill. It is abundantly clear that the 
 structural violence being perpetrated against Black women and all low-wage 
 workers in the workplace is a product of the same system of racism that 
 leads to police brutality against Black bodies. We intend the vigil on June 
 19th to raise awareness of these insidious structural inequities.” 
 \nWorkers’ Collective is a collective dedicated to empowering workers, 
 and creating a community of support for workers organizing in their jobs. 
 We believe we are stronger together and that we must come together as a 
 class of workers in every industry to change the worker and employer 
 relationship and build collective power. Workers who are interested in 
 joining the collective should email workerscollective@pm.me and include 
 “JOIN” in the subject line. Organizations wishing to partner with us 
 can include “PARTNER” in the subject line. Workers can also join us on 
 keybase by searching workerscollective@pm.me in keybase.\n 
 https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2020/06/17/18834290.php
SUMMARY:Workers’ Collective Mourns Victims of Covid19 and Broken Promise of Emancipation
LOCATION:AMAZON FULFILLMENT CTR-6015 Giant Hwy-Richmond CA
URL:https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2020/06/17/18834290.php
DTSTART:20200620T033000Z
DTEND:20200620T050000Z
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR