Absolutely everyone is familiar with Amazon. Thousands if not millions of Americans have Amazon Echos installed in their homes. Amazon movies have been nominated for Academy Awards, and a lot of people rely on Amazon Prime for shopping and fast delivery. The company has grown so large in recent years that rumors and reports of employee abuse have started to circulate.
Most of these rumors state that Amazon is expecting too much of their employees. In order to successfully fulfill the 2-day shipping promised by the Amazon Prime membership, employees are expected to run throughout warehouses. Injuries are common, and injury rates are much higher in Amazon fulfillment centers than national averages for this industry. Rumors have even circulated that employees were urinating in bottles spread throughout the warehouse rather than take 5-10 minutes for a bathroom break.
For these reasons, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has made a demand to see Amazon’s workers injury records. Several politicians have encouraged OSHA to make investigations, and to punish Amazon to the fullest extent of the law if any problematic practices were uncovered. The initial demand for an OSHA investigation was lead by Senator Bernie Sanders, who believes that OSHA is not paying enough attention to the safety concerns in Amazon warehouses. Considering that a lot of holiday shopping is done on Amazon, this is potentially the perfect time for an investigation since the Amazon warehouses will be busier than ever.
Worker safety is something that should always be prioritized, but sadly it is sometimes ignored in the face of higher productivity and increased revenue. We hope that Amazon employees are not being exploited, but if OSHA determines that they are, we will be here to represent anyone and everyone that has been taken advantage of. We are here to support workers. Everyone deserves to go to a workplace that they feel safe in, and we will fight hard to make that a reality.