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Wayfair employees plan walkout over sales to migrant detention centers

by Rebecca Klar - 06/25/19 3:15 PM ET

Employees at the online furniture retailer Wayfair are protesting after they claim the company refused to cease conducting business with immigration detention centers.

Workers announced Tuesday that they plan to walk out Wednesday at 1:30 p.m.

“Wayfair sold beds to furnish border camps; 547 employees signed a petition to ask that we cease all business with border camps; CEO said no,” employees under the Twitter handle Wayfair Walkout said. {mosads}

The protesting employees are also asking that Wayfair donate all profits from the sale to the nonprofit organization Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES).

tl;dr – Wayfair sold beds to furnish border camps; 547 employees signed a petition to ask that we cease all business with border camps; CEO said no —>employees are walking out tmrw at 1:30pm. We ask that Wayfair donate all profits made from the sale to RAICES #WayfairWalkout

— wayfairwalkout (@wayfairwalkout) June 25, 2019

Wayfair did not immediately respond to The Hill’s request for comment.

An anonymous Wayfair employee told The Boston Globe that employees learned last week that BCFS, a nonprofit government contractor managing the migrant camps at the border, placed a $200,000 order for bedroom furniture.

A letter with more than 547 employee signatures asking Wayfair to cease business with BCFS was given to the leadership team, The Boston Globe reported.

Wayfair executives responded to employees, saying, “As a retailer, it is standard practice to fulfill orders for all customers and we believe it is our business to sell to any customer who is acting within the laws of the countries in which we operate,” according to The Boston Globe.

The Globe said Wayfair confirmed the letter was sent and declined to comment further.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), an ardent opposer of the border camps, tweeted support for the walkout.

“Wayfair workers couldn’t stomach they were making beds to cage children. They asked the company to stop. CEO said no. Tomorrow, they’re walking out,” she said. “This is what solidarity looks like – a reminder that everyday people have real power, as long as we’re brave enough to use it.”

Wayfair workers couldn’t stomach they were making beds to cage children.

They asked the company to stop. CEO said no.

Tomorrow, they‘re walking out.

This is what solidarity looks like – a reminder that everyday people have real power, as long as we’re brave enough to use it. https://t.co/667abeLDTG

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) June 25, 2019

Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) also tweeted support for the Wayfair protest, saying she “proudly stands in solidarity” with the employees walking out “in the name of justice and humanity.”

“We must actively #resist any & all efforts by this cruel, incompetent administration to cage children and separate families,” Pressley said.

The Trump campaign criticized the walkout and Democratic lawmakers supporting demonstrators, accusing them of “bullying” Wayfair.

“To keep migrants comfortable while Democrats in Congress dither on humanitarian aid, the Trump Admin bought bedroom furniture from @Wayfair. Sadly, open-border advocates @AOC @RepPressley are bullying Wayfair to cancel the sale, depriving kids of good beds to sleep in. Heartless!” Trump War Room, an account run by the president’s reelection campaign, tweeted.

Updated 5:53 p.m.

Tags Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Ayanna Pressley