Amazon’s Weak Attempts To Correct Dangerous Labor Conditions Shows Its Dedication To Exploiting Blue-Collar Workers

Amazon, the most powerful e-commerce company in the world, has a weak history of trying to correct its dangerous labor practices that often lead to the exploitation of blue-collar workers.

For more than a decade, Amazon employees all around the world have spoken out about the "Sweatshop" working conditions in the company's warehouses and on delivery routes as the company routinely engages in dishonest campaigns that boast of "Robust safety management" even during peak business seasons.

Contrary to Amazon's claims, internal data reports spanning at least five years show that injury rates among Amazon employees are rising and tend to spike on huge e-commerce days such as Cyber Monday.

In one instance in 2011, Amazon warehouse workers in Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania, an area close to urban hubs such as Philadelphia and New York City, said they were forced to work through temperatures inside that rose to more than 100 degrees in summers, which often resulted in heat-induced sickness and injury that reinforced the company's habit of hiring temporary workers through Integrity Staffing Solutions that they can quickly dispose of and replace.

"Amazon arranged to have paramedics parked in ambulances outside, ready to treat any workers who were dehydrated or suffered other forms of heat stress. Those who couldn't quickly cool off and return to work were sent home or taken out in stretchers and wheelchairs and transported to area hospitals. And new applicants were ready to begin work at any time," the Morning Call wrote, noting that some of those who fell ill, including pregnant women, were asked to sign papers that said their sudden illness was not work-related.

Amazon News March 25, 2021 The company issued a similarly shady response when workers expressed fears over the spread of COVID-19 and Amazon's lack of transparency to local health departments and employees about warehouse outbreaks and even virus deaths during the 2020 pandemic.

While Amazon is often viewed by economically driven politicians and developers as a company that provides employment opportunities to communities that really need it, the harsh conditions some Amazon workers have repeatedly faced give pro-union politicians and groups ammunition to go after the e-commerce company, which has deployed its resources to spy on workers who engaged in "Labor organizing activities" and gather detailed intelligence about certain strikes and meetings targeting the employer.

https://thefederalist.com/2021/03/29/amazons-weak-attempts-to-correct-dangerous-labor-conditions-shows-its-dedication-to-exploiting-blue-collar-workers/