Shares of Wayfair (W) are under pressure on Tuesday after workers reportedly plan walkout over furniture sales to migrant camps. This comes after employees at the company learned last week that a $200,000 order of bedroom furniture had been placed by BCFS, a government contractor that has been operating camps at the border, according to a media report. WORKERS PLAN WALKOUT: Workers at Wayfair said that they would stage a walkout at the online housewares giant’s Back Bay offices Wednesday to protest the company’s decision to sell furniture to operators of facilities for migrant children detained at the southern U.S. border, Janelle Nanos of the Boston Globe reported. Employees at the company learned last week that a $200,000 order of bedroom furniture had been placed by BCFS, a government contractor that has been operating camps at the border, Nanos said, citing a Wayfair employee. “We were disheartened and concerned about Wayfair’s business” with BCFS, the employee said. “Over the last two days it has come to our attention that Wayfair has again engaged in B2B sales with BCFS, a non-profit government contractor managing camps for migrants at our Southern border,” a group of 50 employees said in a letter sent to Wayfair’s executive leadership. “This particular order, for over $200,000 worth of bedroom furniture, is destined for Carrizo Springs, Texas, to a facility that will be outfitted to detain up to 3,000 migrant children seeking legal asylum in the United States. 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. We, the undersigned, are writing to you from a place of concern and anger about the atrocities being committed at our Southern border.” In a tweet, House Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez commented on the planned walkout saying that, “Wayfair workers couldn’t stomach they were making beds to cage children. 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.” PRICE ACTION: In afternoon trading, shares of Wayfair have dropped almost 5% to $145.39.
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