The Jewish Labor Committee (JLC) participated in the Wayfair home goods workers’ walkout on June 26 protesting the company’s decision to sell furniture to migrant detention facilities at the southern border.
New England JLC Regional Director Ari Fertig led the walkout from the company’s headquarters in Boston, saying in a statement, “Our history informs us on what refugees and immigrants confront. Workers understand how hard it is to make demands of your employer, and we salute these brave workers now. That’s why the Jewish Labor Committee stands in solidarity with Wayfair workers. It is imperative that we fight for the safety and well-being of children at our border.”
Earlier this week, Wayfair executives received a letter signed by 547 of their employees calling on them to “make sure that Wayfair has no part in enabling, supporting, and profiting from this practice.” When the company refused, the employees formed a walkout protest calling for the company to donate the $86,000 in profit they made from this sale to the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES), a non-profit which provides free legal advocacy services for immigrants and refugees.
JLC President Stuart Appelbaum said in a statement, “The violence, poverty and oppression in Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras are forcing men, women and children to flee for their safety and in many cases their lives” and that the JLC believes it is wrong to profit from a humanitarian crisis.”
The JLC is an independent secular non-profit organization that works to protect labor movements.
