Why is there an Amazon boycott? Explained
A grassroots political organization called The People’s Union USA made a lot of headlines recently when it organized a 24-hour economic blackout aimed at large corporations in America. The boycott got a lot of attention on social media but didn’t really affect Amazon at all (reports show sales increased one percent on the day it happened), so now the group is targeting that retailer specifically.
The group wants people to boycott Amazon for a whole week, from March 7 to March 14. “Amazon [has] infiltrated every part of our daily lives, controlling how we shop, what we watch and even how small business can survive,” founder John Schwarz said in a ukmessage prompting the economic “calculated strike.”
The People’s Union message is that “corporations, politicians, and industries have worked together to rig the system against the American people.” Why Amazon specifically? Because they exploit workers, keep wages low and keep most people in a “constant state of struggle.”
The movement, which calls itself a “protest” and not a “political party,” wants to wrest back control of the economy, the government and the future of America. It will certainly be an uphill battle.
During the previous economic blackout on Feb. 28, Amazon’s sales actually went up. Considering the company does more than $1 billion in sales a day, this is not surprising. It’s also hard to boycott something so huge. Amazon owns, among others: Zappos, Twitch, IMDb, PillPack, Goodreads, Audible, Zoox, Whole Foods, Ring, and of course—Amazon Prime. It would actually take a bit of work to avoid all of that, and if you have a Prime subscription, you’re basically not using something you’ve already paid for in advance.
Add to that the fact that Amazon pulled in net sales of $638 billion last year (an 11% increase over 2023), and you’ve got quite the underdog story for The People’s Union. This does not mean the organization is intimidated, however.
Following the Amazon blackout, the Union plans on boycotting Nestle, Walmart, and General Mills. While The People’s Union hasn’t boycotted Target (yet), that company is the subject of a 40-day boycott over its move away from diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies.
Is this the start of a boycotting revolution in America? Time will tell. In the meantime, The People’s Union is running a gofundme to help it with associated costs and has raised over $120,000 as of this writing. The group says it won’t take money from “corporations, billionaires, or political insiders” and that every dollar it raises comes from “the people.” Time will tell if the boycott has any real effect on Amazon or not. The company has enough money to simply wait and see.
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