Mike Blake/Reuters
- More than 500 Wayfair employees have signed a letter addressed to senior management, criticizing the company for allegedly fulfilling orders for furniture destined for US detention camps at the southern border.
- The letter is asking Wayfair to cut off orders to BCFS and other contractors working with US Border Patrol to operate camps that house child migrants along the southern border.
- A response from Wayfair’s leadership indicated the company would not accept the letter’s request, The Boston Globe reported.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
Wayfair employees are at war with the company’s senior management over the issue of furnishing camps meant to detain minors at the United States’ southern border.
More than 500 employees of the online furniture seller have signed a letter addressed to senior management, criticizing the company for allegedly fulfilling orders for furniture destined for US detention camps at the southern border.
Citing reported abuses at the camps, the employees write in the letter: "We also want to be sure that Wayfair has no part in enabling, supporting, or profiting from this practice."
In the letter, the employees allege they have learned of a $200,000 Wayfair order for bedroom furniture destined for a camp operated by BCFS, a government contractor, in Carrizo Springs, Texas
"The practice of detaining children and adults at our Southern border has been condemned since its inception but since the acceleration of the practice in 2018, and the increase in death and injury that has come with that acceleration, we have seen more vocal condemnation of the practice," the letter reads. "We, the undersigned, are writing to you from a place of concern and anger about the atrocities being committed at our Southern border."
It called on the company to cut off orders to BCFS and other contractors working with US Border Patrol to operate the camps. It also requested a new code of ethics for salespeople that "empowers Wayfair and its employees to act in accordance with our values."
"We believe the current actions of the United States and their [sic] contractors at the Southern border do not represent an ethical business partnership Wayfair should choose to be a part of," the letter reads.
An unsigned response from the Wayfair leadership team declined the employees’ requests, The Boston Globe reported.
"As a retailer, 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," the executives’ letter reads. "We believe all of our stakeholders, employees, customers, investors, and suppliers included are best served by our commitment to fulfill our orders."
Wayfair did not respond to Business Insider’s request for comment but confirmed the existence of the executives’ letter to the Globe.
"We’re disheartened given what we know is happening at the Southern border that there wasn’t a larger reaction," an employee told the Globe. "I know them all to be empathetic and we’ve seen that in other ways. We are a coalition of employees and we were hoping for something that spoke more to our values."
In response, a Twitter account claiming to be made by Wayfair employees announced that an employee walkout had been planned for the company’s Boston headquarters for Wednesday. The tweet has raced across social media, even getting support from New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
If you are a Wayfair employee and have a story to share, reach out to retail@businessinsider.com.
See Also:
- Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez applauds Wayfair workers speaking out against migrant camps as backlash against the company brews online
- Illinois just became the first state to legalize marijuana sales through the legislature — here are all the states where marijuana is legal
- Women in New York City and San Francisco are obsessed with these comfortable flats made from recycled water bottles — here’s what they feel like
Source: Business Insider – dgreen@businessinsider.com (Dennis Green)