As shoppers rush to the stores and search online for the best deals on Black Friday, labor activists took to the streets of New York City to join a worldwide demonstration against top retailer Amazon.
One of the "Make Amazon Pay" rallies took place right outside one of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' homes in Manhattan on Friday. Workers and labor activists, many from the Retail Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU), say they want shoppers to not give into Amazon's deals and spend their money on local and small businesses.
Kathryne Harper was among the demonstrators who demand better working conditions and pay for Amazon workers. She says she doesn't work for the company but at a bookstore in Williamsburg.
" I get asked all the time if we price match with Amazon," Harper said. "The answer is always no."
Get Tri-state area news and weather forecasts to your inbox. Sign up for NBC New York newsletters.
"I have to tell them that we charge full price for books because our workers get things like bathroom breaks and fair wages," she added.
Amazon workers in about 40 countries reported planned to strike or hold walkouts. Earlier this year, Amazon workers in Staten Island voted to unionize in a landmark win for organized labor, even though the company spent millions trying to kill those efforts.
Local
"Workers are tired of being treated like a disposable commodity," Stuart Appelbaum of RWDSU told NBC New York.
A spokesperson for Amazon says the company is doing a lot of things right including addressing climate change with its pledge to cut greenhouse gas emissions to as close to zero by 2040.
“While we are not perfect in any area, if you objectively look at what Amazon is doing on these important matters, you’ll see that we do take our role and our impact very seriously," said Kelly Nantel, an Amazon spokesperson.
