Wayfair Employees Are Protesting After Learning the Company Sold Furniture to Migrant Detention Facilities
Employees of furniture and home goods company Wayfair have announced a walkout tomorrow, Wednesday, June 26th, in protest of the retail brand selling beds to child migrant detention facilities at the southern United States border.
As the Boston Globe reported, after learning of these orders being carried out, Wayfair employees sent an email to the leadership team, detailing their concerns and requests: to cease all business deals with BCFS (a non-profit government contractor managing migrant camps at the border) and other contractors involved, as well as establishing a new code of ethics for business-to-business sales for the company.
For the record, here’s the letter the employees sent, which includes the details of the B2B order that wayfair fulfilled. pic.twitter.com/mfKs1krawu
- Dais (@sun_daiz) June 25, 2019
According to the letter signed by 547 employees, the particular order in question was a $200,000 order meant for a facility in Texas that reportedly houses “3,000 migrant children seeking legal asylum in the United States.”
"Wayfair is confirmed to be selling beds to the border camps!" Twitter account @wayfairwalkout wrote. "Employees asked for the order to be canceled and management said no. Everyone deserves a home they can feel safe and loved in, especially children, no matter where they're from."
According to the Twitter account, Wayfair employees have asked their CEO to donate the profits made from this specific sale to charities and organizations aimed at helping those in need at the border, including the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES).
The Boston Globe reports that the letter was sent to executives last Friday and a response was returned on Monday evening at 6 p.m.
Wayfair's response to the controversy, according to a tweet, is that "it is standard practice to fulfill orders for all customers, and we believe it is our business to sell to any customer who is acting within the laws of the countries within which we operate."
In response to a recent letter signed by 547 employees, our CEO said that the company would not cease doing business with contractors furnishing border camps. We ask that the company donate the $86,000 in profit they made from this sale to RAICES. #wayfairwalkout
- wayfairwalkout (@wayfairwalkout) June 25, 2019
@Wayfairwalkout is urging employees of the Wayfair headquarters in Boston, Massachusetts to walk out on June 26th at 1:30 p.m. to Copely Square "to show [their] numbers and make this demand.".
Wayfair workers couldn’t stomach they were making beds to cage children.
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. https://t.co/667abeLDTG- Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) June 25, 2019
House Beautiful has reached out to Wayfair for comment and will update accordingly with their response.
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