Amazon warehouse employees were sent to emergency rooms due to falls on the job, due to sleep deprivation and from food poisoning, the union representing warehouse workers claims. A report by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union claims a spike in ambulance callouts came before Thanksgiving and went on until Christmas.
“We’ve documented cases of employees falling from forklifts, fainting due to sleep deprivation, being hospitalized for food poisoning and other illnesses,” ILWU President Bob McEllrath said in a statement.
“I know firsthand that warehouse workers feel pressured by their bosses to work long hours with little rest – at Amazon and at other retailers,” said Tracy Eikes, a Walmart worker and spokeswoman for Change to Win.
A spokesman for Amazon said in a statement to Business Insider: “We take all complaints regarding safe work practices and workplace culture very seriously and have a zero tolerance policy for safety violations.”
The union also claims that during the 2017 shopping season, Amazon warehouse workers were subjected to punishment for missing shift-times on Thanksgiving morning, and the union believes that “Determined supervisors retaliated against workers who missed shifts,” during the holiday season.
The union is asking Amazon to give all workers in its warehouses rest breaks and 12 hours of rest a day.
Read the full story at CNN Money.
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