THE WEEKLY REVEAL

Hello! In this issue:

• How unions, state lawmakers and safety regulators are all pressuring Amazon to change how it treats its workers.

• The United States’ almost nonexistent record in bringing war criminals to justice.

• An explainer on how violence targeting abortion clinics in Florida led to the main federal statute that protects providers and patients.

THIS WEEK’S EPISODE

A Reckoning at Amazon

When Chris Smalls successfully got his Amazon warehouse to unionize in April – an effort no one else in the United States had been successful in – he called it “the catalyst for the revolution.” That’s because the impact of the union vote goes beyond Amazon. It speaks to the fight over the future of work.

Amazon’s business model is built on high worker turnover – essentially burning through warehouse workers, rather than trying to get them to work at the company for years. The turnover rate among hourly workers at Amazon is 150%, which has made it difficult for workers to take on the long-term organizing effort of banding together to collectively advocate for higher wages and better conditions. While recent union organizing efforts have aimed to fundamentally change the way Amazon functions, state lawmakers and safety regulators are taking action against Amazon in ways they haven’t previously. And much of that grew out of our investigations and reporting.

This week on Reveal, host Al Letson speaks with senior reporter Will Evans, who’s been reporting on Amazon’s warehouse injury crisis for years. He’ll break down how the investigations first began and tell us more about what it’s all leading to now, including the building pressure for Amazon to deal with its workplace practices.

But that’s not all. We’ll also hear the story of why the federal government repealed a rule that would regulate the most common type of workplace injury. It’s a decision that’s had a domino effect on workplace safety regulations for the last 20 years.

NEW

6 Takeaways from Our Investigation Into Suspected War Criminals in the US
By Ike Sriskandarajah

For more than 40 years, the U.S. government has devoted resources to investigating suspected human rights violators living in the country. The Department of Justice and, more recently, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement have been the agencies focused on pursuing leads and cases.

But in reporting for our recent Reveal episode My Neighbor the Suspected War Criminal, we found that suspects rarely face charges for their alleged atrocities. In fact, the Department of Justice has only ever won one conviction.

We also found that:

1. The Justice Department’s inaction allows suspected war criminals and human rights violators on U.S. soil to escape justice.

2. Instead of using the substantive criminal statutes, the U.S. charges human rights violators with lesser charges of immigration fraud.

3. The lack of criminal prosecutions has forced victims of atrocities to seek justice through other means: civil suits against perpetrators.

RELATED

⚖️ If you listened to the episode, you might remember one story: the killing of prominent Sri Lankan journalist Lasantha Wickrematunge. Former Sri Lankan Secretary of Defense Gotabaya Rajapaksa – now president of the country – is accused of ordering his assassination. This week, Wickrematunge’s case was heard at The People’s Tribunal on the Murder of Journalists at The Hague. Here is some context on the trial from Groundviews, a citizen journalism website based in Sri Lanka.

📻 Reveal senior reporter and producer Ike Sriskandarajah was on Vox’s Today, Explained podcast this week to discuss what could happen to Rajapaksa if he’s ousted and “goes home” to the suburbs of Southern California.

For months, Sri Lanka has been experiencing its worst economic crisis since it gained its independence in 1948. Protesters have had a common and unifying rallying cry: “Go home, Gota.” For more context, here’s our Twitter thread about the mass protests.

On Social

As the end of Roe v. Wade appears imminent, abortion rights groups are predicting that acts of intimidation, harassment and violence against abortion providers and patients will skyrocket.

In Florida, the possibility that anti-abortion extremism might turn deadly isn't theoretical. It’s actually what led to the bipartisan Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, the main federal statute that protects abortion providers and patients. We explain how on Instagram.

A Mix of It All

📻 Reveal reporter Laura C. Morel was on NPR’s 1A this week to talk about her reporting that found police calls for abortion clinic harassment and violence in Florida have doubled since 2016. The state could be providing a glimpse of the future for places that keep abortion legal in a post-Roe world.

📄 NPR this week reported on the measures Doctors Without Borders is taking to address institutional racism and cited the Reveal and Insider investigation that broke the story last fall. We found a “segregated medical system for staff members, with international workers receiving better access to life-saving care than locals.”

🏆 Former WPLN News criminal justice reporter Samantha Max has been awarded WBUR’s 2021 Daniel Schorr Journalism Prize for her reporting on the Nashville, Tennessee, police department’s systemic pattern of misconduct, silence and retaliation against its own officers. You heard that reporting on Reveal this year. Listen to Behind the Blue Wall.

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