Middle View – Not the Left, nor the Right, but in the middle, ideally with Common Sense and Fairness

2019/25 Whiner of the Week – Wayfair Employees

July 26, 2019, Wayfair employees in Boston walk off the job to protest the sale of beds to Baptist Church Family Services. The beds were slated to be used in border detention facilities. (a)
July 26, 2019, Wayfair employees in Boston walk off the job to protest the sale of beds to Baptist Church Family Services. The beds were slated to be used in border detention facilities. (c)

Wednesday, June 26, 2019, up to 500 employees, about 10% of the company. of the eCommerce company, Wayfair, walked off the job after the execs,refused to back out of a contracted sale of $200K worth of beds.

They were protesting the company’s decision to sell the beds to Baptist Church and Family Services(BCFS) which is a non-profit in charge of running a number of the border detention facilities.

Congressional delegates have made visits to the detention facilities and noted the lack of beds.  ICE responded by attempting to purchase more beds.

And the Wayfair employees do not want their company to be the one supplying the beds for the migrants.

If not Wayfair, than which company?

With the economy strong, and employment plentiful, employees at various companies across the US have become more forceful in impressing their political views on their companies management.

Walkouts over employee grievances have occurred at companies such as Google.  Apple recently decided to move assembly from Austin to China because of a lack of contract workers willing to work for the minimum wage.

NPR, for whom Wayfair is a sponsor, reported that Employee Elizabeth Good stated, “I am proud to work at Wayfair and I’m proud to continue the dialogue that will lead to us ending the support of concentration camps at our southern border,” said employee Elizabeth Good at the walkout.

NPR web report on the Wayfair bed purchase incident, with a Wayfair ad on their page. Not a big deal, but odd? (d)
NPR web report on the Wayfair bed purchase incident, with a Wayfair ad on their page. Not a big deal, but odd? (d)