• Amazon Prime Day 2019 is kicking off today, along with a strike in the company’s warehouse in Shakopee, Minnesota.
  • To show solidarity with the striking workers, some online activists are calling for shoppers to boycott the 48-hour sale.
  • But Amazon’s stable of high-profile acquisitions makes it trickier to avoid the retailer entirely.
  • Visit BusinessInsider.com for more stories.

Amazon Prime Day is here, but not everyone’s happy about it. Some online users have taken to social media to call for a boycott against Amazon, expressing their solidarity with the warehouse employees currently striking in Minnesota.

Amazon has argued that the criticism is misplaced.

“Events like Prime Day have become an opportunity for our critics, including unions, to raise awareness for their cause, in this case, increased membership dues,” an Amazon spokesperson said in a statement to Business Insider. “These groups are conjuring misinformation to work in their favor, when in fact we already offer the things they purport to be their cause – industry leading pay of $15 per hour, benefits, and a safe workplace for our employees.”

The tech giant argues that it’s not the enemy when it comes to worker’s rights.

"We can only conclude that the people who plan to attend the event on Monday are simply not informed," a spokesperson told Business Insider. "If these groups - unions and the politicians they rally to their cause - really want to help the American worker, we encourage them to focus their energy on passing legislation for an increase in the federal minimum wage, because $7.25 is too low."

The strikes in the US and Europe, as well as the online calls for a boycott, are proceeding regardless.

And, since the tech giant has accrued a number of other major companies that people use every single day, participating in a boycott is not as easy as just logging out of your Amazon account for the day.

If you're trying to get your organic fix at Whole Foods, buy a new pair of shoes on Zappos, stream a video game on Twitch, or monitor your home's safety on Ring, you're interacting with an Amazon subsidiary.

Read more: Walmart launches its Amazon Prime Day counterattack with thousands of deals

Social media users promoting the boycott sought to clarify which sites and products constitute as "crossing the picket line" today.

https://twitter.com/saintwidow/status/1150624896793231360?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfwhttps://twitter.com/riseofthelee_/status/1150576504704786432?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfwhttps://twitter.com/wwetuesday/status/1150710540488073217?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfwhttps://twitter.com/itskryode/status/1150788071840997376?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

But for casual shoppers less aware of Amazon's reach, it's a good indication that shoppers could be unwittingly supporting the online giant without even realizing it.

Here's a list of Amazon's subsidiaries:

  • Abebooks
  • ACX
  • Alexa Internet
  • Audible
  • Blink
  • Body Labs
  • Box Office Mojo
  • ComiXology
  • Digital Photography Review
  • Fabric.com
  • IMDb
  • Kindle
  • PillPack
  • Ring
  • Shopbop
  • Sqrrl
  • Twitch
  • Withoutabox
  • Woot!
  • Whole Foods
  • Zappos

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