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Dear Neighbors,

As we approach the height of the holiday season, many are taking some time off to focus on family and kids home on winter break. But for some of our neighbors - USPS postal workers, Amazon warehouse workers, and retail workers - are working overtime to deliver what Minnesotans need and want this holiday season. I want to take a moment to express our gratitude to those who are working so hard.?

It?s also a good time to dig a little deeper into the work we did this session to protect these workers who package, ship, and deliver what we rely on all year, especially during these months. This year we passed the best set of worker rights bills in Minnesota history and the core component of this work is ensuring that Minnesotans working in some of our most dangerous workplaces - warehouses, meat processing plants, healthcare facilities, construction sites - have legal protections to keep themselves safe on the job.?

You may be surprised to learn that Amazon warehouses are one of the most dangerous places to work in Minnesota. I was. Because of the powerful organizing of Amazon warehouse workers and the Awood Center, we passed my Warehouse Worker Safety Act, the nation?s strongest protections for Amazon warehouse workers.??

This month, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Abdi Muse, the Executive Director of the Awood Center, to talk about the impact of the Warehouse Worker Safety Bill and the worker organizing that made it possible. Abdi is a leader in the work to organize East African workers and workers at our Amazon warehouses in Minnesota. Click here [ [link removed] ] to view our conversation about the worker to ensure workers are safe and respected in Minnesota?s Amazon Warehouses and every workplace in Minnesota!

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What We Did This Year

Everyone deserves to be safe and respected at work but that is not the experience of warehouse workers at Amazon?s facilities in Minnesota. The last two years, Amazon warehouse workers testified in committee after committee about a business model that forced them to work at a grueling and relentless pace, under intense electronic surveillance that tracks and monitors their every move. In these warehouses, 1 in 10 workers are getting hurt - 89% of those injuries are serious - and they are getting hurt by a high-tech business model. They have an injury rate that is 1.5 times the injury rate of non-Amazon warehouses in Minnesota and 3 times the injury rate in private industry.?

Minnesota?s workplace safety standards have not kept up with Amazon?s business model and the harm it causes workers. That?s why this year, we passed common sense worker safety standards to address these problems. It protects these Amazon warehouse workers now, and ensures that the dangerous, high-tech model does not spread to other warehouses and other industries where it could injure more Minnesotans.?

Check out the op-ed that I wrote with Awood Center Executive Director Abdi Muse and Sen. Erin Murphy, which you can read here [ [link removed] ].

Where to Learn More?

If you?d like to learn more and develop a deeper understanding, here are some great resources from authors, journalists, educators, and podcasters:?


* Read the National Employment Law Project?s Report ?Injuries, Dead-End Jobs, and Racial Inequity in Amazon?s Minnesota Operations [ [link removed] ]? detailing the dangerous conditions and high injury rates at Amazon?s Minnesota warehouses.?
* Check out my Star Tribune?s Op-Ed launching our legislative effort: ?Minnesota legislators must respond to Amazon's business model?? [ [link removed] ]
* If you?re interested in getting updates on the organizing work happening in Minnesota?s Amazon Warehouses, follow and support the Awood Center [ [link removed] ].?
* Check out Athena [ [link removed] ] if you are interested in learning more about the work to ensure that companies like Amazon play by the rules. Athena is a national coalition or organizations representing working people, small business people, people of color, immigrants, and neighbors, along with activists, advocates, policy experts, and academics.

Stay in Touch

Thank you for your time, energy, and all you do to make our community a great place for everyone.

Please reach out and let us know about events and meetings you?d like me to attend. And always reach out to me with your input and ideas, or if I can ever be of assistance. My email is [email protected] or you are always welcome to call me at the Capitol at 651-296-4200 and follow my Facebook page [ [link removed] ] for updates.

It?s an honor and a privilege to be your State Representative. I'm very proud of what we?ve been able to accomplish this year and look forward to the work we have ahead of us. Together we can create a stronger, brighter future for all Minnesotans!??

Best,?

Emma Greenman

State Representative








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