Three major American companies are being boycotted all throughout July by supporters of a national grassroots organization that have spent the year turning their backs in advancement of economic equality and social justice.
Why It Matters
The nonpartisan People’s Union USA has pushed economic boycotts of some of the country’s biggest companies since February, vowing to protect the American working class from “the greed and corruption that’s kept us divided, distracted, and struggling for decades.”
Companies like Target have reversed policies on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives to the chagrin of The People’s Union, which has called such corporate decisions “backward, regressive and dangerous.”
Other large corporations in the group’s crosshairs have included Walmart and McDonald’s.
Newsweek reached out to its founder, John Schwarz, via social media for comment.
What To Know
The People’s Union will boycott Amazon, Home Depot and Starbucks throughout this entire month.
“This is how we escalate,” Schwarz said in a video posted on Instagram on June 25, Schwarz. “We don’t do it with anger, not chaos, but with unity, with discipline, and with focus. We stop giving our energy and money to the companies that keep showing us they don’t care about the people.”
He mentioned Amazon’s upcoming Prime Day offerings, along with the juxtaposition of overworked and underpaid workers and Jeff Bezos—who over the weekend had an extravagant wedding in Venice.
“[Amazon employees] are pushing their bodies to the limit so Jeff Bezos can throw a multi-million-dollar wedding in Venice,” Schwarz said. “That is not success, that is a disconnect.
“That is a man getting rich while the people making it possible are being pushed to the edge while they barely make a livable wage. Jeff Bezos makes over $7 million per hour and pays 1.1 percent in taxes.”
An Amazon spokesperson told Newsweek that the company remains committed to building a diverse and inclusive company.
They cited the company’s position on a litany of issues widely debated across America, including supporting: an increase in the federal minimum wage; policies to reduce climate change; immigrants and immigration reform; and making housing more affordable.
“We maintain a number of mechanisms to ensure our employees stay safe during high-temperature events,” the company said. “The health and safety of our employees is paramount and we encourage employees to take breaks often as needed, especially those who work in roles exposed to the elements.”
Schwarz said Starbucks is “no better,” calling out the company for its purported facade of being a community builder while it discourages worker organization and unionizing—sometimes even leading to worker terminations.
The ire towards Home Depot is similar to past boycotts of Target. Schwarz said Home Demot “quietly erased” the DEI page from their website, “as if standing for fairness or for equality or for representation was something to be ashamed of.
“And let’s be real, all these companies are also financially supporting this treasonous administration,” he said. “They are funding the very same politicians who are tearing families apart, stripping away rights, and pushing this country into a dictatorship.
“If you support these companies then you are indirectly supporting the destruction of everything this country was supposed to stand for. These are not isolated mistakes; these are patterns. And we the people have had and seen enough.”
Newsweek reached out to Amazon and Starbucks for comment.
Home Depot provided the following statement to Newsweek: “For over 45 years, our business success has been driven by our eight core values, including respect for all people and taking care of our people.
“We’re proud to have a culture that welcomes everyone, and we believe it helps us achieve our business goals by supporting associates, building relationships and fostering innovation. As we continually refine our communications, we have been using “WeAreTHD,’ which we have long used to represent the welcoming culture that we’ve built here.”
Along with the boycotts of those companies. The People’s Union is also boycotting essentially all involvement in anything Independence Day-related—what Schwarz called “the most important boycott of the year” that is not about politics but “principle.”
“It’s about walking away from the illusion they’ve built and reclaiming what it actually means to be free,” he said in a separate video. “This Fourth of July, do not go to the parades, do not gather at the fireworks shows, don’t wave a flag for a country that no longer waves it for you.
“The Fourth of July is supposed to be a celebration of freedom, but what freedom are we actually talking about? The right to be watched? The right to be taxed, lied to, left behind? The right to vote between two corporate puppets? The right to work 60 hours a week and still struggle to pay rent while billionaires dodge taxes? Let me be honest with you, there is no independence to celebrate right now.”
Do Boycotts Work?
Rachel Meltzer, associate professor of planning and urban economics at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design, told Newsweek that businesses routinely pay attention to issues like crime, the continued growth of e-commerce, and how housing and rent costs impact workforces.
Boycotts are not necessarily new in challenging such paradigms, she said.
“I think retail and those kinds of businesses have always played in the face of political or cultural trends,” Meltzer said. “I don’t know if it’s a new thing; which businesses it’s affecting recently might be changing. In the urban setting that hasn’t come up as a driving force.”
Ramesh Venkat, associate professor of marketing with the Sobey School of Business and director of the David Sobey Retailing Centre at Saint Mary’s University in Canada, told Newsweek that consumers still have choices that include supporting local retailers, which in turn puts money back into the local economy.
“The market is getting more concentrated with the bigger players displacing the smaller companies, or in some cases, you know, acquiring the smaller companies,” Venkat said. “But still, there’s still choice available.
“Overall, with prices rising and the dollar not going as far as it used to, it does put the consumer in a difficult situation for sure. I think people have to look for the retailers; you have to do your homework as a consumer now to find out where the best deals are and who is really providing the best service.”
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