Wayfair employees walk out after company sells beds for detained migrant children


The moment was captured when employees of Boston-based online retailer Wayfair walked out Wednesday afternoon (June 26) in order to pressure the company to stop selling beds for migrant children being detained at the US-Mexico border.

According to media reports, Wayfair employees learned last week that an order for about $200,000 worth of bedroom furniture was placed by the global nonprofit BCFS, which operates migrant facilities for the Department of Health and Human Services. BCFS is set to open a new facility in Carrizo Springs, Texas, which will accommodate about 1,600 unaccompanied minors.

Employees have drafted a letter to management asking Wayfair to establish a code of ethics that "empowers Wayfair and its employees to act in accordance with our core values," according to media reports.

"The United States government and its contractors are responsible for the detention and mistreatment of hundreds of thousands of migrants seeking asylum in our country — we want that to end," the employees said in the letter, according to media reports. "We also want to be sure that Wayfair has no part in enabling, supporting, or profiting from this practice."

Wayfair's stock dropped 5 percent on Tuesday. Shares are up about 60 percent this year.