Quote:
Originally Posted by Andrew H.
Of course Amazon does adhere to fair labor standards in their sweatshops. They also pay significantly more than equivalent jobs in the regions where they are located. (Which are not, however, high wage areas.)
The fact that occasional 20-something journalists discover that working in a warehouse is "hard" compared to working in an office should not be surprising, however.
|
This sounds pretty bad:
Quote:
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.
Only one of the employees interviewed described it as a good place to work.
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.
|
LINK
The working conditions described there go beyond " uncomfortable" and even "hard" to "dangerous." We can make Amazon do better.