Amazon Web Services VP resigns after company fired whistleblower workers

• Tim Bray, a senior engineer and vice president at Amazon Web Services (AWS), resigned on Friday after the company fired workers who openly criticized its labor practices. 
• Bray said that he “snapped” after hearing about the termination of two employees who criticized the company’s climate stance and treatment of warehouse workers.
• Several other warehouse employees were also reportedly fired for speaking out against working conditions. 

A senior software engineer and vice president at Amazon Web Services (AWS) has resigned in protest against the company’s termination of its outspoken critics.

Tim Bray explained his decision in a scathing blog post titled “Bye, Amazon.”

Bray wrote that May 1st, Friday, was his last day at the company after serving his role for over five years.

He said that he couldn’t ignore how the company treated its workers who protested against its climate stance and labor practices.

“I quit in dismay at Amazon firing whistleblowers who were making noise about employees frightened of Covid-19,” Bray explained. He added that he could not stay in his position knowing this, because that “would have meant, in effect, signing off on actions I despised.”

Bray shared how he “snapped” after Amazon fired Maren Costa and Emily Cunningham, two former user experience designers who were both members of an employee advocacy group, Amazon Employees for Climate Justice (AECJ).

Prior to his resignation, Bray supported AECJ and the call for a comprehensive plan to combat climate change.

But the company fired Costa and Cunningham for “repeatedly violating internal policies.”

Cunningham commended Bray’s decision and hopes that his resignation could spark a movement that could bring about meaningful changes at the company.

“Amazon has an incredible opportunity to lead both in the coronavirus crisis and with the climate,” Cunningham added, “but it has to start by listening to workers instead of firing us.”

Several other warehouse employees have staged protests at various facilities to call for greater safety protections during the pandemic. But most of the protesters were fired.

An Amazon spokesperson told CNBC that while it supports its workers’ rights to protest, the company has to take action against “those that endanger the health, well-being or safety of their colleagues.”

Amazon added that the company has gone to “great lengths” to keep facilities sanitary and ensure that employees are following necessary precautions.

The company also declared that it would invest its expected $4 billion second-quarter profit in coronavirus-related efforts, such as purchasing additional safety gear for workers.

Bray believes that Amazon is indeed putting “intense work and huge investments” towards keeping workers safe during the pandemic. But he stressed that the repeated outcries from warehouse workers extend to conditions beyond the coronavirus crisis. 

Bray concluded, “At the end of the day, the big problem isn’t the specifics of the Covid-19 response. It’s that Amazon treats the humans in the warehouses as fungible units of pick-and-pack potential.”

Source: CNBC