WeWork being pressured to close their locations as more members test positive for coronavirus

Some members have signed a petition on the worker advocacy platform Coworker.org calling on WeWork to close its 848 locations worldwide. There are more than 300 locations in the United States. Jill Raney, a Washington-based WeWork member who launched the petition, says the company’s decision to remain open during a public health crisis is “unconscionable.” They said it effectively forces businesses with small margins to choose between wasting money or putting themselves at risk.

As the number of coronavirus cases in the U.S. increases rapidly, WeWork has remained open even after some members have tested positive for the virus in at least seven of their New York locations as well as in LA and Chicago, according to The Washington Post. Other members have signed an online petition calling for the company to shut down all its locations worldwide. To add to that, some small business owners who use WeWork are angry that the company is refusing to refund them for spaces they can no longer use.

Despite the growing outcry from their members, WeWork argues that they remain open because it is “in the public interest and that the business is an essential service,” and that they “have members counting on [them] to remain open so they can run their companies,” the article states. 

Justine Testado via Archinect - News https://bit.ly/3aa1yjZ