These Businesses Are Closing For Friday's Climate Strike

[appalachiablue]

Source: CBS News

Thousands of people are planning to walk out of work or school on Friday to press global leaders for solutions to rapidly escalating climate change. And while it was students who started the movement, more and more workers—and even companies—are joining them in support.

Some businesses are letting workers take the day off to protest, while others plan to close their doors outright. They tend to be small or mid-sized businesses — most of the country's largest corporations have yet to weigh in on the strike, although plenty of people who work at them might yet participate when walkouts are set to start Friday afternoon.

Here are the ways workers and companies are supporting the strike.


Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/global-climate-strike-businesses-close-their-doors-in-time-for-climate-strike-2019/?intcidCNI-00-10aaa3a

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Walkouts:

•AMAZON is expected to see more than 1,500 employees walk out, with the largest contingent exiting its Seattle headquarters, as they push the company to cut ties with fossil-fuel companies and stop funding groups that deny climate science. The company on Thursday announced it would make its operations carbon-neutral by 2040 and run entirely on renewable energy within a decade.

•More than 900 GOOGLE workers and unknown numbers of workers from FACEBOOK, ATLASSIAN, COBOT, ECOSIA, MICROSOFT and TWITTER are vowing walkouts. The strikers have details at Tech Workers Coalition.

Some smaller companies are giving workers paid time off to participate in the walkouts. These include *Atlassian, Sustain Natural, Grove Collaborative and others.

Closures:

•BEN & JERRY'S corporate offices in South Burlington, Vermont, will be closed during the strike on Friday, while shops worldwide will either be closed or open later than usual. The company is also stopping production at its manufacturing plants in Vermont and the Netherlands, according to Adweek. "We recognize that climate change is an existential threat to our planet and all its inhabitants, and therefore we are proud standing with the youth-led movement demanding bold action in response to the climate emergency," a spokesperson said.

•PATAGONIA is closing its retail stores for 24 hours on Friday. "For decades, many corporations have single-mindedly pursued profits at the expense of everything else — employees, communities and the air, land and water we all share," CEO Rose Marcario wrote on LinkedIn. "[C]apitalism needs to evolve if humanity is going to survive."

•LUSH COSMETICS will close its manufacturing facilities and retail outlets on September 20 in the U.S. and on September 27 in Canada. It's also halting online sales on Friday.

•BADGER BALM is closing for the day and giving workers paid time off to demonstrate or volunteer. The company is also donating 5% of online sales from September 16 to 27 to AmazonWatch.org to aid in preserving the shrinking Amazon's ecological systems, it said.

•BURTON, the outdoor retailer, is closing its offices and owned retail stores on September 20th or 27th (depending on their country of location). It also won't make any online sales for 24 hours on Friday.

•SODASTREAM, the seltzer maker owned by PepsiCo, is shuttering its headquarters and closing e-commerce on Friday.

Digital doings and more:

The heart of the strike will be in the streets, but that doesn't mean the action stops there.

> More than 7,000 companies have pledged to draw attention to the protest by either donating ad space or putting banners on their sites. Participants include Tumblr, WordPress, Imgur, Kickstarter, BitTorrent, Tor, BoingBoing, Greenpeace, Change.org, among many others.

In addition, several hundred other businesses are supporting the strike by giving workers time off, closing corporate offices or otherwise drawing attention to the strike, according to the American Sustainable Business Council. They include:
•450 Architects
•A Better World
•A-Ray
•A.K. A Coach and Co.
•Aegis Renewable Energy
•AGL Media Group
•Allbirds
•Alston C. Lundgren, M.D.
•Alter Eco

•American Sustainable Business Council
•Appropriate Technology Group
•Arcadia Power
•Aspen Leaf Wealth Management
•At The Epicenter
•Bandidas Taqueria
•Bird + Stone
•BitTorrent
•Blackledge Furniture
•BrandGeek
•Brattleboro Savings & Loan
•Breast Cancer Prevention Partners
•Carbon Analytics
•Chelsea Green Publishing
•Circularity Edge

MORE at the Link...

[LisaM]

1. If Amazon wanted to help (I get that this is employees, not the company)

They'd discontinue Amazon Prime.

https://www.ecowatch.com/prime-days-environmental-cost-2639197705.html

Consumers who are eco-friendly should stop using it, period.

Ditto with Uber and Lyft.

https://www.ecowatch.com/prime-days-environmental-cost-2639197705.html

[AllaN01Bear]

3. tried lylft thrugh my medical insurance cos motor pool, never again. left behind .

[SoCalNative]

4. Amazon Prime is more than just deliveries of goods

eom

[LisaM]

5. Maybe so, but what about Prime Day?

No one needs Amazon Prime. No one.

I admit, my one-person boycott of the company is highly ineffective, but I certainly hope those students and employees who are all walking the walk today also talk the talk.

I expect people to stick up for Amazon Prime. They always, always do.

[SoCalNative]

6. And again

It's not only about delivery of goods. And Prime Day is ONE DAY A YEAR. BFD.

Amazon Prime also includes video and music streaming subscriber service.

So please get off your soapbox and stop saying that no one needs Amazon Prime. For those of us who have cut the cable cord it is a viable and far less expensive alternative.

[LisaM]

9. OK, excepting people who have Amazon Prime and DON'T UTILIZE THE TWO-DAY SHIPPING.

I don't think you should accuse me of being on a soapbox when you use the expression "cut the cable cord", which, since I have cable and no interest in cobbling together a bunch of subscription services, sounds like you are on a soapbox!

The fact is that express package delivery is a huge contributor to pollution. People don't need it. I don't shop online very often, though I did order a pair of shoes (from the store, not Amazon) recently and they're coming slowly on UPS ground, and I don't care that I had to wait 7 business days.

I have many reasons for boycotting Amazon besides the pollution - don't care to give money to a company that locks people in warehouses and works them to death.

[efhmc]

11. I have found almost everything I need at other sites.

I particularly like when they ship to the local store. I still use it for my e books from the library but that is free. And I don't even have to drive to the library.

[AllaN01Bear]

2. ohm myyyyyy.

[karynnj]

7. At the Burlington Vt rally, they announced that after the main rally, there would be free ice cream

At the Ben and Jerry's there. Lots of school kids, many with their teachers were there.

[appalachiablue]

8. Excellent, thanks for the news.

[canetoad]

10. Over 100,000

Marched in Melbourne, Au.

[appalachiablue]

12. Good for Melbourne, great crowd. Thanks canetoad!