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Dear John,
Second only to Walmart, Amazon is the nation’s next largest employer, and its record of health and safety is less than world-class.
According to a report by the union coalition Strategic Organizing Center, based on data Amazon reported to OSHA, Amazon had 6.6 serious injuries for every 100 workers in 2022. This is more than twice the industry standard, which was 3.2 serious injuries per 100 workers.
That year, more than half of all warehouse injuries in the U.S. happened at Amazon, though they only employed 36% of all factory workers.
Employees say Amazon’s productivity standards are to blame for the high rate of injuries. OSHA backs this up. They’ve issued citations at six Amazon warehouses, and the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries issued fines due to employees being required to perform repetitive motions, such as lifting, carrying, and twisting “at such a fast pace that it increases the risk of injury.”
Meanwhile, an employee safety watchdog group called Warehouse Life has collected stories of workers who have been injured, and is requesting a meeting with Amazon’s VP of Global Workplace Health & Safety, Sarah Rhoads, to address the company’s injury rate. Still the group says their request for a meeting has not been met.
That’s where we come in. Amazon needs to feel public pressure. Ask Amazon to meet with the injured employees and take action to protect them! Workers will hand deliver the petition signatures to Amazon on Prime Day, this Tuesday, October 8.
According to Warehouse Life, employees report feeling “silenced and discarded” after being injured. They report experiencing unreasonable expectations like continuing a delivery route after being mauled by a dog on the job, told to return to work immediately after a miscarriage, and even given no time off to recover from an amputated limb.
One employee described having to pay for her own ambulance after a workplace injury. In the worst cases, some family members are seeking justice after their loved ones died of injuries sustained while working at Amazon.
Employees reported being required to work while recovering from a torn ACL ligament in the knee, which prevents the shin bone from sliding out in front of the thigh bone. ACL injuries occur due to stopping or changing direction suddenly, landing badly, or slowing down when moving quickly -- all potential dangers for a hurried factory worker or delivery driver.
Additional employee stories include being denied medical help, illegal firings, and facing poverty and homelessness after the company denied worker’s comp claims.
It’s frightening how much longer I could go on sharing their experiences.
When the Workplace Life group came to Amazon headquarters seeking to meet with the VP of Health & Safety, they were rebuffed without even being allowed into the building.
Meanwhile, in the absence of such a meeting, workers report that Amazon continues to block workers’ comp benefits, violate workers’ medical accommodations, and share misinformation to discourage workers from pursuing their own claims.
Amazon isn’t listening to their workers. It’s time for public pressure to back workers up. Sign on to urge Amazon’s VP of Health & Safety to meet with workers, and take action to protect them now!
Thank you for standing up for workers’ rights to be safe on the job.
Robert Reich
Inequality Media Civic Action
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