Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez supports #WayfairWalkout: 'This is what solidarity looks like'

Elise Solé
Updated ·6 min read

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is backing Wayfair employees walking out of work over their CEO’s business dealings with migrant detention camps.

“Wayfair workers couldn’t stomach they were making beds to cage children,” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted Tuesday. “They asked the company to stop. CEO said no. Tomorrow, they‘re walking out. This is what solidarity looks like — a reminder that everyday people have real power, as long as we’re brave enough to use it.”

Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez lent support to people boycotting Wayfair for doing business with migrant detention camps. (Photo: Getty Images)
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez lent support to people boycotting Wayfair for doing business with migrant detention camps. (Photo: Getty Images)

Last week, Ocasio-Cortez appeared on Instagram Live saying, “The United States is running concentration camps on our Southern border...” and equating the president’s immigration practices to the Holocaust.

More than 500 employees at the home decor company signed a petition asking their CEO to stop doing business with detention camps — and that any proceeds from such sales be donated to RAICES (Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services).

Twitter user Sun_Diaz tweeted a two-page letter to Wayfair management about “the atrocities being committed at our Southern border” and concern over a deal with non-profit BCFS, which reportedly manages detention camps. Employees claim Wayfair sold $200,000 worth of bedroom furniture to the non-profit, allegedly used in a Carrizo Springs, Texas, camp for 3,000 occupants.

“We believe that by selling these (or any) products to BCFS or similar contractors we are...complicit in furthering the inhumane actions of our government,” wrote workers.

Employees asked that Wayfair stop doing business with any organization involved in detaining immigrants and establish a code of ethics for B2B sales. “At Wayfair we believe that ‘everyone should live in a home that they love.’ Let’s stay true to that message by taking a stand against the reprehensible practice of separating families, which denies them any home at all.”

According to the authors, in September, Wayfair’s furniture filled up a BCFS camp in Tornillo, Texas, for more than 2,500 children.

But Wayfair management rejected the letter, writing in a response, “...No matter how strongly any one of us feels about an issue, it is important to keep in mind that not all employees or customers agree. Your fellow employees hold a wide range of opinions and perspectives and Wayfair, as a mass-market brand, is oriented to serve a broad and diverse customer base.”

Wayfair stated that it maintains the right to conduct business with “any customer who is acting within the laws of the countries within which we operate.” And that sales do not indicate support for an organization’s values.

Wayfair allegedly rejected an employee request to stop furnishing immigrant detention camps at the U.S. border and workers are planning to walk out in protest. (Photo: Twitter/@FizFashizzle)
Wayfair allegedly rejected an employee request to stop furnishing immigrant detention camps at the U.S. border and workers are planning to walk out in protest. (Photo: Twitter/@FizFashizzle)

Employees of the Boston-based company plan will walk out of work on Wednesday, while many customers, celebrities, and public figures are turning their backs on Wayfair.

Executives from Wayfair and BCFS did not return Yahoo Lifestyle’s request for comment. Employees involved in the walk-out could not be reached by Yahoo Lifestyle.

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