Wayfair employees plan walkout today to oppose sales to migrant detention centers

Employees at the online housewares site Wayfair planned to walk out Wednesday afternoon, protesting their company’s sale of furniture to the operators of facilities that detain migrant children along the southern border.

News of the walkout exploded internationally, drawing the support of progressive politicians like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Elizabeth Warren, as Wayfair’s decision drew the ire of customers from across the country. The company’s stock was down 5.3 percent at the end of the day Tuesday, and by Wednesday morning, the supportive Twitter account had gained more than 20,000 followers.

Last week, employees learned that Wayfair was planning to fulfill an order by BCFS, a government contractor that is operating camps at the border, for $200,000 of bedroom furniture.

“We believe that the current actions of the United States and their contractors at the Southern border do not represent an ethical business partnership Wayfair should choose to be a part of,” more than 500 Wayfair employees wrote in a letter to leadership Friday. They asked Wayfair to cease business with BCFS and other contractors doing the same work, and also to establish a code of ethics for business-to-business sales. Company executives wrote back to the employees Monday, saying they appreciated their “passion and commitment” but indicating that the sale would go through.

“It is our business to sell to any customer who is acting with the laws of the countries within we operate,” the executives wrote in the unsigned letter.

BCFS made headlines last year as the operator of a tent city in Tornillo, Texas, where thousands of migrant children were detained; the camp became a symbol of the Trump administration’s harsh treatment of unaccompanied children, with photos from above showing neat lines of children walking between rows of drab, industrial-style tents.

The furniture from Wayfair was destined for a 1,600-bed compound to detain unaccompanied children in Carizzo Springs, Texas. Lawyers who were allowed to visit another Texas facility detaining young migrants last week said the children, including three infants, were living in filthy conditions, without access to adequate food or water.

The walkout of the Wayfair employees is set to take place at Copley Square at 1:30 p.m. Management has indicated there will be no retaliation for employees who participate.

Zoe Greenberg can be reached at zoe.greenberg.com. Follow her on Twitter .

Source: Bostonglobe.com

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