Wayfair employees announced Tuesday that they would stage a walkout Wednesday to protest the Boston-based online housewares giant’s decision to sell bedroom furniture to a government contractor that manages child detention camps at the southern US border.
The move comes after workers said they learned last week that a $200,000 order of furniture had been placed by BCFS, a government contractor managing camps at the border.
The news immediately drew sharp rebukes from notable figures, including politicians, advocacy organizations, and entertainers.
Wayfair workers couldn’t stomach they were making beds to cage children.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) June 25, 2019
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
We must actively #resist any & all efforts by this cruel, incompetent administration to cage children and separate families. I proudly stand in solidarity w/ the hardworking individuals at #Wayfair who are walking out in the name of #justice & humanity. https://t.co/UFvCZNGeTJ
— Rep Ayanna Pressley (@RepPressley) June 25, 2019
I stand with the workers at Wayfair who are walking out tomorrow to protest the treatment of asylum seekers at the...
Posted by Bernie Sanders on Tuesday, June 25, 2019
Here’s the deal with the @Wayfair walk out. They absolutely do NOT have to be the company that supplies the prison camps. These are privately owned camps that are for profit. Your elected officials cannot even get in there to see them! This CEO? 👎. Pls follow @wayfairwalkout pic.twitter.com/mYN9IQKTxU
— Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) June 25, 2019
We applaud @Wayfair workers who are walking out to protest Wayfair profiting from detention centers.
— RAICES (@RAICESTEXAS) June 25, 2019
No one who works for a company profiting from these camps should be standing idly by as children are dying. This takes a village.#WayfairWalkouthttps://t.co/rLElrcUsKi
Many customers, including author Celeste Ng, have said they would no longer shop at Wayfair. Some have framed the boycott as a concrete way to protest the detention camps along the border, while others satirized the “Wayfair, you’ve got just what I need” commercial jingle in their condemnation of the company’s actions.
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Tbh now I’m also going to see if I can return two filing cabinets that I bought from @Wayfair (but haven’t put together yet). This is really unconscionable, Wayfair.
— Celeste Ng (@pronounced_ing) June 25, 2019
Hey @Wayfair - event professional here who's easily spent in the tens of thousands on decor product from you over the years, but won't be doing any more business now that you're cozying up to concentration camps for children. @wayfairwalkout
— John Anthony (@chocobohomo) June 25, 2019
Something you can do *today* to cut off the profits made through the running of concentration camps at the southern US border: Boycott Wayfair. #BoycottWayfair https://t.co/4RGNf6xpq6
— barbara ziel (@barbaraziel) June 25, 2019
Hey @Wayfair, I won’t be buying ANYTHING from your company again unless you stop selling to these detention camps. You don’t have just what I need. I need ethical companies that don’t support putting kids in cages. #BoycottWayfair
— 🐶Barb🐾 (@D8N_Barb) June 25, 2019
I support @wayfairwalkout
Literally just got on Twitter to give a shoutout to @Wayfair customer service and discovered the #WayfairWalkout instead.
— Elizabeth(Beth) (@neverliz) June 25, 2019
Wayfair, whether or not to abuse children isn’t a difference of opinion, it’s a moral choice. No more business from me until you stop supporting this.
Critics have also implicated other companies and Wayfair’s subsidiaries.
Last I checked Amazon, Microsoft, Verizon, Dell and Palantir all had contracts with ICE or CBP.
— Shauna (@shauna_gm) June 25, 2019
You too can research contracts at https://t.co/omlYlMWDzx. Put in the recipient (company) name or DUNS # in this search: https://t.co/QKuXU6oIIx https://t.co/mpKbSbbDEP
Folks, don't forget while boycotting @wayfair that you should also be boycotting their subsidiaries @jossandmain, @allmodern, @birchlane, and @perigold.
— Jules Suzdaltsev (@jules_su) June 25, 2019
They are all the same company with the same products. https://t.co/wQrIynjR8j
The wealth disparity between Wayfair’s CEO and the migrant children was also a source of tension.
The CEO OF @Wayfair, Niraj S. Shah, is worth $2.5billion, but is determined to make more money from the imprisonment of immigrant children. He should be ashamed.#WayfairWalkout
— Daniel (@DailyLibber) June 25, 2019
Some have defended Wayfair, arguing that it is contradictory to criticize the standards of the camps as well as the company providing new furniture.
Let me get this straight:
— Brigitte Gabriel (@ACTBrigitte) June 25, 2019
The same people who are complaining about the standards of intake facilities are now walking out because their boss is supplying furniture for them?
You can't win with leftists. No matter what they will complain.#WayfairWalkout
President Trump’s 2020 campaign team also weighed in.
To keep migrants comfortable while Democrats in Congress dither on humanitarian aid, the Trump Admin bought bedroom furniture from @Wayfair. Sadly, open-border advocates @AOC @RepPressley are bullying Wayfair to cancel the sale, depriving kids of good beds to sleep in. Heartless!
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) June 25, 2019