Amazon will reopen their warehouses in Illinois and Indiana after closing them to protect them from looting caused by the George Floyd protests.
The spreading civil unrest forced Amazon to temporarily close two delivery stations in Chicago, Illinois, and Gary, Indiana. The demonstrations emerged nationwide over the death of Floyd, a black man who died at the hands of Minneapolis police. The public's response to Floyd's murder led to violent clashes with police and looting in several cities.
Amazon closed the Gary facility or DIN2, after getting reports that trailers were damaged outside of the facility late Monday night, according to an Amazon spokesperson.
However, it is uncertain if any item was stolen from the trailers or if any arrests took place after the trailers were damaged.
No damage to the Chicago facility or DCH1 was reported. The company said both were closed to protect employees and partners.
The warehouses will reopen Wednesday at 8PM CT.
Safety first
"We are monitoring the situation closely and have adjusted routes or scaled back typical delivery operations in the affected areas to ensure the safety of our teams," the spokesperson said.
Amazon's delivery stations are not bigger than its fulfillment centers. The activities include sorting and preparing packages for last-mile deliveries.
Delivery stations may have hundreds of employees, compared to fulfillment centers, which has thousands.
Amazon delivered a notice to its Flex drivers and delivery service providers asking them to avoid delivering packages "immediately."
Drivers in more than a dozen cities, including Minneapolis, New York City, Seattle, Los Angeles and Miami, received the notice. Some cities have imposed curfews due to escalating civil unrest.
Amazon said it shuttered delivery locations "near the activity" and would resume the business in those locations when it is sure about their safety. Moreover, some cities have modified shifts available to Flex drivers around curfew times, so as to give drivers time to go home before curfews start.
Amazon's response to coronavirus
Amazon equipped its warehouses with safety equipment as their personnel go back to work.
The company installed thermal cameras to detect coronavirus symptoms among workers in its warehouses in the UK and globally. This technology is relatively faster than using close-range thermometers.
There have been COVID-19 cases reported at more than 50 of its warehouses. Amazon employees claimed that it was nearly impossible to implement social distancing at the facilities.
An Amazon spokesman said: “We implemented daily temperature checks in our operations locations as an additional preventative measure to support the health and safety of our employees, who continue to provide a critical service in our communities.”
“We are now implementing the use of thermal cameras for temperature screening to create a more streamlined experience at some of our sites,” the spokesman added.
Protests against Amazon
It can be remembered that Amazon faced its own protests too.
In late March, Amazon confirmed that it has fired Staten Island employee Christian Smalls, who led the walkout at the New York warehouse protesting the company’s response to the coronavirus outbreak.
The company said Smalls was supposed to be under quarantine. Amazon spokesperson Kristen Kish stated: “Mr. Smalls was found to have had close contact with a diagnosed associate with a confirmed case of COVID-19 and was asked to remain home with pay for 14 days, which is a measure we’re taking at sites around the world.”
The protest, partly organized by Smalls, called on the company to close down the Staten Island facility for deep cleaning after multiple cases of the coronavirus emerged there.
