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Amazon workers to stage a walkout Monday, demanding closure of Staten Island facility

From CNN’s Brian Fung and Sara Ashley O’Brien

Amazon employees at the company’s facility in Staten Island, New York, plan to walk off the job Monday amid allegations the online retail giant has mishandled its response to the coronavirus pandemic.

The walkout will begin at 12:30 p.m. and could involve anywhere between 50 and 200 people, said Christian Smalls, an assistant manager at the facility who is leading the walkout.

"The plan is to cease all operations until the building is closed and sanitized," Smalls told CNN in an interview. "We’re not asking for much. We’re asking the building to be closed and sanitized, and for us to be paid."
Following the walkout, the workers will gather at a nearby public bus stop and speak to the press. Employees are protesting Amazon’s decision to keep the Staten Island warehouse open despite news of a confirmed case of the virus there last week, Smalls said.

Many more employees have tested positive for the virus at the facility than the company has publicly acknowledged, Smalls said, claiming that as many as five to seven workers have been diagnosed with coronavirus.

Amazon didn’t immediately respond to several requests for comment.