
Amazon has fired 50 workers from Staten Island, New York after they discovered that the warehouse was the only one in the U.S. that is unionized. Work stoppageProtest against being forced into work after a fire brokeout in a warehouse’s compactor.
According to the union per The Washington PostThe company has been suspended 10 union leaders40 other workers who took part in the work stoppage. According to the company suspensions were taken. will be paidUntil an investigation is made into the protest, this will continue.
According to Amazon Labor Union (ALU), more than 650 night workers stopped working Monday due to unsafe working conditions. They claimed that they could still smell smoke and had difficulty inhaling in the warehouse. Workers at the warehouse voted earlier this year to join the ALU. Even after one worker went to the hospital, management threatened workers with termination if they didn’t return to work, union officials said.
“Amazon associates at JFK8 had our lives placed at risk yesterday, and this isn’t the first time. Yesterday’s safety and health risk, a fire, is but one example of why we voted to form a union, so we can have a real voice on crucial issues which impact all associates every day,” the union wrote in a statementAfter suspensions, demand that the company recognize ALU and start bargaining with them.
According to the union, workers demanded information from the fire department about the fire and were denied access by the company. ALU plans to file an unfair labor practice complaint against the company for the suspensions.
“We will not tolerate any unsafe workplace and we will not tolerate intimidation,” the union said, ending with a call for the company to “STOP STALLING AND START NEGOTIATING!”
Amazon has not yet recognized the union and has attempted to contest the election results. Last month, a National Labor Relations Board official (NLRB) was present. recommended that the company’s objections be “rejected in their entirety,” a recommendation that the board is likely to follow.
The company released a statement Monday stating that day shift workers had been sent back and that the fire department had declared the building safe for them to use before night shift workers arrived at work. The union says that the company’s claims about the incident are false.
“It’s a shame that due to Amazon’s lack of safety protocols, workers had to take a stand, because they were not feeling as though the company took [the fire] as seriously as they should have,” ALU President Christian Smalls told The Washington Post.
The suspensions are just over a week after workers in Albany, New York, were made aware of them. Are slated to vote on joining ALU.
The union and organizing workers have continually raised concerns about Amazon’s safety protocols. Amazon was involved in a similar incident in March when it unionized a warehouse in Bessemer (Alabama). Filled withIt was a mysterious, smoky gas. The gas was dispersed on the warehouse floor and workers continued to work. Management did not speak to them. Workers were evacuated by word-of-mouth as emergency vehicles arrived. Later, it was determined that the gas was vaporized oil from a malfunctioning compressor.
Amazon warehouses are far more dangerous than other warehouses in America last year. Nearly 50% ofAmazon warehouse injuries occurred despite the fact that only 33 percent of warehouse workers in the country were employed by the company.
Federal workplace safety has been highlighted in a report issued after an Illinois tornado destroyed an Amazon warehouse. officials determinedAlthough technically the company meets all legal safety requirements, it is only at a minimum level. Progressive lawmakers and union organizers have demanded that the company increase its safety standards and put workers’ safety first, rather than strict quotas.