Inside Amazon's warehouse

[PADemD]

Lehigh Valley workers tell of brutal heat, dizzying pace at online retailer.

"Over the past two months, The Morning Call interviewed 20 current and former warehouse workers who showed pay stubs, tax forms or other proof of employment. They offered a behind-the-scenes glimpse of what it's like to work in the Amazon warehouse, where temperatures soar on hot summer days, production rates are difficult to achieve and the permanent jobs sought by many temporary workers hired by an outside agency are tough to get.



Workers said they were forced to endure brutal heat inside the sprawling warehouse and were pushed to work at a pace many could not sustain. Employees were frequently reprimanded regarding their productivity and threatened with termination, workers said. The consequences of not meeting work expectations were regularly on display, as employees lost their jobs and got escorted out of the warehouse. Such sights encouraged some workers to conceal pain and push through injury lest they get fired as well, workers said.

During summer heat waves, Amazon arranged to have paramedics parked in ambulances outside, ready to treat any workers who 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.

An emergency room doctor in June called federal regulators to report an "unsafe environment" after he treated several Amazon warehouse workers for heat-related problems. The doctor's report was echoed by warehouse workers who also complained to regulators, including a security guard who reported seeing pregnant employees suffering in the heat."

This is a very long article, published by the Morning Call, about the working conditions at a local Amazon plant. It's worth reading.

http://www.mcall.com/news/local/mc-allentown-amazon-complaints-20110917,0,7937001,full.story

[Uben]

1. I worked in the Texas heat all my life

As a machinist for 25 yrs, I never worked in one shop that was air conditioned, so I know heat. Winters aren't too bad here usually, but I have seen times when it was so cold the plant had to shut down. It was the nature of the job. Of course, I grew up in a time when there was no a/c in schools. I never attended a school that had a/c until college, either.

You did your job as best you could, and most shops I worked in provided salt tablets to help with heat exhaustion.

We have a Walmart distribution center near here. The conditions are much the same as Amazon's are described here. But, the pay is fairly good for the area.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not defending these companies, I think they should provide a climate controlled environment if it is at all possible. But, I know working in the heat is tolerable and managable, but you just have to be smart about it. As a supervisor, I was aware of the symptoms of heat exhaustion and have seen people fall out because of it, myself included. When I was young, I had a job blowing insulation in attics in the Texas heat. Temps in the summer could get very high in an attic. Once I was working in an attic and realized I was about to pass out and made my way to the scuttle hole. I passed out as I was trying to climb down and fell to the floor in the garage. Fortunately for me, I landed on some rolls of carpet padding (it was new construction).

Companies should put employee safety first, and always above profits. It's just the humane thing to do.

[PADemD]

4. Forty years ago, I worked in a plant where a man died of heat stroke.

[elocs]

2. A couple of threads from Sunday on this subject:

http://upload.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x1962008

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x627295

[pipi_k]

3. Just part of a vicious circle...

IMO.


They get away with it because the economy sucks and people who are terminated for not being able to work in the heat (or other reasons) are quickly replaced by others who need jobs.

Many here at DU think it's OK to put (or try to put) "amoral" corporations (like big banks or companies that support Republicans) out of business with boycotts, etc.

If you kill a business for those reasons, you put LITTLE people out of work. Not the fat corporate pigs.

Little people have families. They have bills. They have to support themselves. So they take whatever jobs they can find. Often, they end up working in hellholes.

And the circle continues.

There will always be companies out there taking advantage of workers and the American people. Always. Just maybe fewer in better times.

What's the solution? I don't know.