Non-profit Oxfam, which has a mission to fight inequality and poverty globally, announced October 17 it had submitted a formal complaint against Amazon and Walmart to the United Nations.

According to Sourcing Journal, the complaint, alleging “systematic human rights violations” against their workers UN Working Group on Business & Human Rights is the UN’s Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health, the UN’s Special Rapporteur on Poverty and the UN’s Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Association. 

The organization has support in its allegations from a number of other groups and two anonymized employees — one from Walmart and one from Amazon. 

“They monitor us with cameras. They have cameras throughout their whole building. . . . It's not a good feeling at all because it's like we're in prison,” said the co-signing Amazon warehouse worker.

The communication is also signed by allies at the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility Advancing Worker Justice Program, LaborLab, Open MIC, Advance ESG, Mercy Investments, Congregation of Saint Joseph, Adrian Dominican Sisters’ Corporate Advisory Board, and Sisters of Charity, Province of St. Louise.

“As the two largest private employers in the U.S., Amazon and Walmart should set high standards for treating workers with dignity and respect, and yet they continually fail to do so,” said Abby Maxman, president and CEO of Oxfam America in an October 17 statement. "These labor violations particularly harm women and workers of color, especially through injury rates and mental health impacts, but the companies’ human rights abuses should concern us all. We hope that escalating this issue to the UN level will finally inspire Amazon and Walmart to start prioritizing worker well-being, not only profit.”