Introduction
On January 18 2023 OSHA sent out a news release stating that they had fined Amazon $60,269 for violations found in three of their warehouses in Deltona Florida, Waukegan Illinois and New Windsor New York. The investigation by OSHA found that Amazon workers were exposed to struck-by hazards and other musculoskeletal disorders related to the high frequency that workers must lift heavy products. During the investigation OSHA reviewed onsite injury logs and found that "Amazon workers had high rates of musculoskeletal disorders". The assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health Doug Parker stated that "Each of these inspections found work processes that were designed for speed but not safety, and they resulted in serious worker injuries," OSHA also cited Amazon for 14 record keeping violations as part of the investigation.
On February 1 2023 OSHA issued another statement in regards to a similar investigation involving three more warehouse locations in Aurora, Colorado; Nampa, Idaho; and Castleton, New York. The second report stated similar findings to the first one, that amazon warehouse workers were at a high exposure to struck-by injuries as well as other musculoskeletal related injuries to do lifting heavy packages repeatedly with twisting and reaching motions. Both of these Investigations were conducted on referrals from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York because of complaints received by the DA's office from current and former employees. The fines are just another example of consequence that amazon is facing due to the public outcry over the treatment of its employees specifically the warehouse workers.
Articles come out routinely telling stories of new ways amazon workers are being treated unfairly. Forbes did an article that described the way that amazon workers weren't being paid because of a glitchy software which was responsible for payroll. This led to families missing rent, car payments, employees not receiving benefits they were entitled to. The program also showed that people who had called out for doctors appointments just didn't show up for work that day which led to people being wrongfully terminated. Workers also claimed that their every movement was tracked and recorded by the company "“You’re being tracked by a computer the entire time you’re there. You don’t get reported or written up by managers. You get written up by an algorithm,” If a computer is making decisions on performance it won't take into account the human aspect and will expect much higher demands than the human can worker can accomplish.
All of these instances of amazon workers being mistreated shows that amazon cares more about the customer and making record profit every year rather than the safety and well-being of their employees. A New York Times article argued "that Bezos “discovered what he thought was another inefficiency worth eliminating: hourly employees who spent years working for the same company.” Sources claim that Bezos held a theory that workers expect raises, but at the same time, they become complacent over time, and don’t work as hard. Consequently, wages increase, while productivity declines". This quote shows that amazon values productivity above safety, above fair pay and compensation and above basic business ethics.
References:
https://www.osha.gov/news/newsreleases/national/01182023
https://www.osha.gov/news/newsreleases/national/02012023
https://techcrunch.com/2023/01/18/amazon-fined-by-regulators-for-unsafe-warehouse-work-conditions/
https://www.kuer.org/business-labor/2019-12-04/amazons-bringing-more-jobs-and-questions-about-its-economic-benefits-to-utah (for the image)
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jackkelly/2021/10/25/a-hard-hitting-investigative-report-into-amazon-shows-that-workers-needs-were-neglected-in-favor-of-getting-goods-delivered-quickly/?sh=7a48a28d51f5
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/15/briefing/amazon-warehouse-investigation.html
It is concerning to me that the employee injury logs were kept up to date, but nothing was done to prevent the worker injuries going forward. I almost think that the OSHA fines were not enough, this to me seems like it deserves a more serious punishment.
ReplyDeleteIt definitely deserves much more of a Punishment and hopefully it will come.
ReplyDeleteMany of these employees deserve better and should be given the respect to be properly compensated. Amazon needs to focus on working to make sure they get well deserved benefits and they should not have to struggle to receive the money they worked long hours for.
ReplyDeleteThe employees definitely deserve better, it is not easy working in the warehouses and they should be properly compensated for their work.
DeleteIt's alarming to see that Amazon's prioritization of speed over safety is resulting in serious worker injuries and musculoskeletal disorders. What steps do you think Amazon can take to prioritize safety and ensure fair treatment of its employees?
ReplyDeleteFrom the outside looking in all Amazon cares about is profits and customer satisfaction regardless of the impacts to their workforce
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