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The Wayfair Walkout was organized in protest of the company’s sale of furniture to a new detention center in Texas intended for detained migrant children, according to social media posts.
A Twitter account for the protest was created on June 25, 2019, and has since gained over 21,000 followers. Its first tweet said, “Not everyone at Wayfair is okay with what’s happening.”
“Wayfair is confirmed to be selling beds to the border camps!” a tweet from the account says. “Employees asked for the order to be canceled and management said no. Everyone deserves a home they can feel safe and loved in, especially children, no matter where they’re from.”
Wayfair has 12,000 employees across the U.S., of which about 7,000 work at the company’s Boston headquarters.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. More Than 500 Workers Wrote to Wayfair Management After Discovering the Sale
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“We, the undersigned, are writing to you form a place of concern and anger about the atrocities being committed at our Southern border,” the letter says. “The United States government and its contractors are responsible for the detention and mistreatment of hundreds of thousands of migrants seeking asylum in our country — we want that to end. We also want to be sure that Wayfair has no part in enabling, supporting, or profiting from this practice.”
The workers found that Wayfair has engaged in B2B sales with BCFS, a nonprofit government contractor managing camps for migrants at the Southern border.
One order, which totaled over $200,000 worth of bedroom furniture, was headed to a facility in Carrizo Springs, Texas. In the letter, the facility is said to be outfitted to detain up to 3,000 migrant children who are seeking legal asylum.
“We believe that the current actions of the United States and their contractors at the Southern border do not represent an ethical business partnership Wayfair should choose to be a part of.”
2. The Workers Asked for Two Things in the Letter to Their Leadership Team
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In the letter written to the Wayfair leadership team, the employees and shareholders asked for two things.
The first request was to “cease all current and future business with BCFS and other contractors participating in the operation of migrant children detention camps at out Southern border (or any other location).”
The second request was to “establish a code of ethics for B2B Sales that empowers Wayfair and its employees to act in accordance with our core values.”
The workers believe that in doing so, the company will have indirectly put out a “clear and concise statement” that Wayfair values the health and safety of all people.
“At Wayfair, we believe that ‘everyone should live in a home they love.’ Let’s stay true to that message by taking a stand against the reprehensible practice of separating families, which denies them any home at all.”
3. The Leadership Team Sent a Response & Will Sell to ‘Any Customer Who is Acting Within the Law’
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said that everyday people have real power, as long as we are brave enough to use it. She commended the workers for their solidarity.
The Wayfair leadership team put out a response to the letter from the workers. According to the response, Wayfair leadership is proud to have a team that is focused on impacting the world in meaningful and important ways, however, they remind the workers that not all fellow employees or customers agree with their stance.
“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 law of the countries within which we operate,” the statement reads. “We believe all of our stakeholders, employees, customers, investors, and suppliers included, are best served by our commitment to fulfill all orders.”
“In response to a recent letter signed by 547 employees, our CEO said that the company would not cease doing business with contractors furnishing border camps,” the account says. “We ask that the company donate the $86,000 in profit they made from this sale to RAICES.”
4. The Workers Walked Out at 1:30 P.M. on Wednesday, June 26, 2019
“At 1:30 p.m., tomorrow, we’re asking employees to leave their desks and walk to Copley Square to show our numbers and make this demand,” the account wrote in a tweet that was liked over 13,000 times and retweeted over 3,000 times.
The Wayfair headquarters are located on the seventh floor of 4 Copley Place in Boston, Massachusetts.
In another tweet, the account wrote that it is not the beds they are protesting, it is the profit being made off of the detainment of children.
5. The Protest Has Gained Massive Attention on Social Media
One Twitter user said she would never buy another piece of furniture from Wayfair again.
Another user urges people to get inspired by this protest. She wants people to notify someone if a company they work for is also selling products at a profit to BCFS or any of the other Trump-era detention centers.
Another user said, “Massachusetts gave Wayfair a $31M tax break just six months ago. Our state tax dollars bought those concentration camp beds.”
Another user likened the situation at the detention centers to the Antebellum South.