Why Climate Strike Protesters Targeted Amazon Go

On Friday morning in downtown San Francisco, activists huddled on the sidewalk outside an Amazon Go store on Market Street. The local Climate Strike march—part of a day of global student walk-outs ahead of the United Nations summit next week in New York City—was about to pass by, and the anti-Amazon contingent was creating unique signs and props to join in the youthful crowd of strikers.

ICE Isn’t NICE, read one woman’s poster, styled with an upside-down Amazon smile. The climate is changing. Can we?, read another. Sporting T-shirts and hats from pro-worker and immigrant rights organizations, the group sang protest songs and chatted with local media. Near the curb, a stack of empty shipping boxes mimicked the now-ubiquitous urban sight of Amazon’s package debris. They were also spray-painted with faux cautions: WARNING: Contains Jails + Cages. Contains worker abuse.