Jeff Bezos Asks Amazon Employees To Honor Juneteenth By Canceling All Meetings

Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon Inc AMZN, wrote to employees Tuesday asking them to “reflect, learn and support each other” on Juneteenth, the June 19 commemoration of the reading of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1865 by Gen. Gordon Granger.

What Happened

The memo, published by CNBC, states that instead of marking Juneteenth with a holiday on Friday, Amazon will ensure employees get a “range of online learning opportunities.”

Bezos announced he was canceling all his meetings on that day saying, “I encourage all of you to do the same if you can.”

The Amazon chief executive wrote, “Slavery ended a long time ago, but racism didn’t.”

Why It Matters

After Walmart Inc. WMT, with its 2 million employees, Amazon is the largest employer with nearly 798,000 full and part-time workers, of which 400,000 are in the United States.

The email from Bezos comes after protests broke out across the U.S. over the killing of George Floyd, reported MarketWatch.

Amazon has also announced it would stop its facial recognition software’s use by law enforcement officials for one year.

The e-commerce firm has pledged $10 million in donations to organizations such as NAACP, National Urban League and the United Negro College Fund.

Bezos’ wealth has risen exponentially during the pandemic, but at the same time, Amazon’s treatment of its workers has come under increasing scrutiny.

Twitter Inc. TWTR and Square Inc. SQ are both marking Juneteenth as a company holiday, announced their CEO, Jack Dorsey.

Amazon Price Action 

Amazon shares traded 0.19% lower at $2,636 in the after-hours session on Wednesday. The shares had closed the regular session 0.98% higher at $2,640.98.