The optics war between Amazon.com Inc. and its critics is intensifying on Cyber Monday with labor, environmental and digital privacy groups staging events around the globe to amplify their concerns about the world’s biggest online retailer.
At a first-ever Amazon Symposium in Brussels, activists discussed such issues as worker rights, antitrust laws and climate change. In a snowy New York, more than three dozen demonstrators rallied outside the Manhattan penthouse of Chief Executive Jeff Bezos. A group in San Bernardino plans to protest in the evening near an Amazon warehouse in the Inland Empire, a key logistics hub.
The coordinated efforts seek to steer attention from the big Cyber Monday discounts Amazon is offering on voice-activated speakers and Nerf dart guns to issues such as warehouse worker deaths and injuries, the environmental costs of fast delivery and the increasing amount of information tech companies gather about customers.
About 100 picketers marched in front of a driveway at an Amazon shipping hub in San Bernardino, blocking trucks, said Mario Vasquez, spokesman for Teamsters Local 1932 in California’s Inland Empire. The group expects 200 protesters at a demonstration Monday night, where participants will voice concerns about Amazon’s growing presence in the region and what it means for workers and air pollution, he said.
The big change this year is the coordination between disparate groups. A key development for Amazon critics was the announcement last week of a newly formed organization called Athena, which brings together dozens of groups and claims 1 million members.
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