Beautiful Virgin Islands

Monday, Oct 06, 2025

Amazon workers in Chicago angered by ‘tokenized’ Juneteenth celebration offering chicken and waffles

Chicago Amazon workers are outraged at the company after a warehouse, known as DCH1, served employees chicken and waffles in celebration of Juneteenth. In a private group for Chicago Amazon employees, workers called the move a “racist form of celebration.” Earlier this week, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos urged employees to cancel all their meetings on Juneteenth.
Workers at an Amazon warehouse in Chicago have voiced outrage at the company after the facility offered employees “an authentic meal” of chicken and waffles in celebration of Juneteenth.

The facility, known as DCH1, notified employees on Thursday that it’s “honoring the Black community by supporting local Black businesses” and would offer employees chicken and waffles on Juneteenth, according to a document obtained by CNBC. The document appears to have been placed on a TV in the facility’s break room.

Juneteenth commemorates the day in 1865 that Texas slaves received news of their freedom, two years after the passage of the Emancipation Proclamation.

In a private online group for Chicago Amazon workers, employees said they were angered and insulted by the “racist form of celebration.” Others said Amazon could have shown support for Black workers by designating Juneteeth as a paid company holiday.

“So much for supporting your Black/African American employees,” one post read. “Where’s the Solidarity in that? We demand a paid holiday, not some damn chicken.”

An Amazon spokesperson told CNBC in a statement: “The leader who put on this event had good intentions to honor Juneteenth by supporting a local small business owned by a member of the Black community. After receiving some feedback from team members at the site, they’ve since decided to remove the sign in question.”

Amazon said the choice of venue and the poster were made by diverse local leadership, including the facility’s site leader, who is Black. The business is one of employees’ favorite restaurants, so they felt it was appropriate to show support on Juneteenth, the company said.

Calls have recently intensified for Juneteenth to be considered a federal holiday. In lieu of that, companies including Nike, J.C. Penney, Target, Twitter and Square have made Juneteenth a company holiday.

In a memo to employees Tuesday, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos encouraged employees to cancel all meetings on Friday to honor Juneteenth, adding that the company would offer a “range of online learning opportunities” throughout the day.

On Friday, Amazon honored Juneteenth in a tweet and said it’s “committed to helping build a community and workplace where everyone can live with dignity and free from fear.”

Roberto Clack, associate director of Warehouse Workers for Justice, said Amazon’s messages in support of Juneteenth and the Black Lives Matter movement ring hollow given DCH1′s “tokenized” celebration of the holiday.

“I just think it’s insincere,” Clack said. “It’s no secret that a large portion of that workforce is Black.

“The way that Amazon could come through for some of its workers would be to fix issues with safety and working conditions, which are things that people have asked to be addressed,” he added. Tensions have been growing between Amazon and warehouse workers, with employees claiming the company hasn’t done enough to protect them from the coronavirus.

In recent weeks, Bezos has shown support for the Black Lives Matter movement in a series of Instagram posts, in which he called out angry customers who criticized the company’s show of solidarity with protesters. Earlier this month, Amazon announced it will donate $10 million to social justice organizations. The company also tweeted that the “inequitable and brutal treatment of Black people” must stop.

While Amazon was applauded for supporting the Black Lives Matter movement, it has also faced some criticism. The company announced last week it was putting a one-year moratorium on police use of its facial recognition software amid concerns the technology has racial and gender bias. Lawmakers are now urging Bezos to disclose whether the moratorium includes federal enforcement agencies, along with other information about how it’s used.

Additionally, more than 1,000 police departments across the U.S. have partnerships with Ring, the smart doorbell security company owned by Amazon.

Amazon warehouse workers in Queens, New York, and Richmond, California, plan to hold vigils on Juneteenth to honor the lives lost to police brutality, as well as workers who’ve died from the coronavirus. Amazon has declined to disclose how many warehouse employees have died from the virus, but has confirmed nine deaths.

The company also hasn’t provided a total number of workers who have fallen ill from the virus, though one estimate from Jana Jumpp, an Amazon worker in Indiana, pegs the total number of cases at 1,000 employees nationwide.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
×