Hundreds of Amazon, Inc. employees signed an internal petition imploring management to take significant action against states that support abortion bans, through the Supreme Court's recent overturning of Roe v. Wade (5-4 decision on Friday) and upholding of Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization (6-3 vote).
The open letter starts by praising Amazon as the "world's best employer," but quickly morphs in to a list of employee demands, some of which could have considerable financial, social, or political risk to Amazon.
Here are the opening paragraphs of the petition, first published on the @LibsOfTikTok Twitter account:
"We, the undersigned, come to you today to request immediate and decisive action against the threat to our basic human rights with the overturning of Roe v. Wade. As part of Amazon's wide reaching efforts toward a more inclusive and diverse workforce, we believe that Amazon cannot let this recent decision go unanswered. We ask Amazon, the world's best employer, to actively defend against this assault on our liberty.
"Below are proposed ideas on how Amazon might use its considerable influence and responsibility to help our country correct its course and mitigate the impact of the recent Supreme Court decision on Amazon employees. Although some ideas bear a large business risk than others, these are unprecedented times, which require us to Think Big to change the world."
The demands requested by the pro-choice employees, posted verbatim:
- Use Amazon's voice to publicly and unequivocally denounce this decision.
- Allow employees of all genders the space and time to grieve, express their frustrations, and protest against this assault of our rights.
- Organize company-sponsored protests in support of Amazon employees.
- Donate and match donations to bail funds and assistance groups working to expand abortion access for women and pregnant people in impacted states.
- Expand remote work options to allow employees the option to relocate to states that choose to preserve their basic human rights.
- Audit and remove product offerings that misrepresent the facts on abortion or encourage hate speech or violence toward abortion seekers.
- Audit all the political donations and immediate cease contributions to political committees that oppose abortion, including but not limited to the RGA, RSLC, and the NRSC, as well as any and all other donations that fund anti-abortion campaigns.
- Enact company-wide policy change going forward to ensure that Amazon does not aid or abet any anti-abortion causes, ideologies, groups or public figures, including via donation, product sale, public statement, or otherwise.
- Cease operations in states that enact laws that threaten the lives and liberty of abortion seekers, either by denying healthcare in life threatening circumstances or by criminalizing abortion seekers and providers.
The letter ends with, "Given the attacks on our democracy, and the continued deterioration of our rights, we believe the time to act is now."
If Amazon were to accept these conditions, without incident, the company could potentially alienate a large faction of employees who didn't sign the open letter, and also support total abortion bans, or the states which allow some flexibility up to 15, 20, 24, or 28 weeks.
According to one website, Amazon employs more than 1.1 million people in the United States.
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