Nearly 2,000 Amazon workers plan walkout over return-to-office mandate

ABC News reported that nearly 2,000 Amazon workers planned to walk out on Wednesday as corporate employees faced a new three-day office rule and ongoing job cuts. The action was organized by two employee groups, Amazon Employees for Climate Justice and Amazon’s Remote Advocacy, through a petition.

After the walkout, Amazon told ABC News that about 300 workers took part. Organizers said the petition had 1,922 employee signatures by Wednesday afternoon, including 913 in Seattle. Amazon employed more than 1.5 million people worldwide as of last week’s annual report.

The petition said workers need "a say in decisions that affect our lives" and pointed to the return-to-office policy and Amazon’s climate record as signs leadership is "taking us in the wrong direction."

Amazon told corporate employees at the beginning of the month to return at least three days per week. That rule followed a January announcement that Amazon would eliminate more than 18,000 jobs, on top of layoffs disclosed in November. In total, Amazon has cut about 27,000 jobs since last fall.

Brad Glasser, an Amazon spokesperson, said the company supports its office attendance rule. In a statement to ABC News, he said Amazon was "happy with how the first month of having more people back in the office has been" and that workers and nearby businesses had reported more energy, collaboration and connections.

Glasser also addressed climate concerns, saying Amazon is working toward net carbon zero by 2040 and that more than 400 companies have joined its Climate Pledge. He said the transition will take time for a business that uses large amounts of power and has substantial transportation, packaging and building assets.

The organizers’ petition called for changes that would improve conditions across the company. It said the goal was to change Amazon’s "cost/benefit analysis on making harmful, unilateral decisions" that affect people of color, women, LGBTQ people, disabled workers and other vulnerable groups. The petition added, "The more pledges, the stronger our voice."

The workplace tensions come as tech sales have slowed from the pace set during pandemic lockdowns. Amazon's stock price has risen nearly 30 percent since the beginning of March. The corporate demonstration follows warehouse organizing: workers at a Staten Island facility formed Amazon’s first U.S. union more than a year before the walkout, but union elections at two other New York warehouses were defeated, and internal disagreements surfaced in the Amazon Labor Union, based on earlier interviews with four current and former Staten Island employees.