BOSTON (AP) — The Latest on a protest by Wayfair employees over the company’s furniture sale to a contractor that runs detention centers for migrant children in Texas. (all times local):
4:45 p.m.
Several hundred people joined a protest staged by Wayfair employees to protest the online retailer’s decision to sell $200,000 worth of furniture to a government contractor that runs a detention center for migrant children in Texas.
The protest triggered a broader backlash against the company, with some customers calling for a boycott. At a plaza near the company’s Boston headquarters, employees and people from outside the company protested Wednesday.
Among the employees was Tom Brown, a 33-year-old engineer at Wayfair. Brown said he was uncomfortable with the idea that Wayfair was profiting from the detention of children at the border.
More than 500 employees at the company’s Boston headquarters signed a protest letter to executives when they found out about the contract. Wayfair refused to back out of the contract but told employees Wednesday morning that it would donate $100,000 to the Red Cross.
Wayfair said it would have no further comment.
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11 a.m.
Employees at online home furnishings retailer Wayfair have planned a walkout to protest the company’s decision to sell $200,000 worth of furniture to a government contractor that runs a detention center for migrant children in Texas.
More than 500 employees at the company’s Boston headquarters signed a protest letter to executives when they found out about the contract. Wednesday’s walkout was organized when Wayfair refused to back out of the contract.
Elizabeth Good, one of the walkout’s organizers, told The Boston Globe knowing that Wayfair is profiting from what’s going on at the southern border is “pretty scary.”
Management wrote in a letter to employees that it’s standard practice to fulfill orders for any customer acting within the law.
Wayfair did not respond to several requests for comment by The Associated Press.
