Press Releases
Teamsters Demand Congress Pass Warehouse Worker Protection Act Following Prime Day Safety Report
Year-Long Senate Investigation Reveals Harrowing Conditions in Amazon Warehouses
Press Contact: Kara Deniz Email: kdeniz@teamster.org
(WASHINGTON) – Following a report on Amazon Prime Day by the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP), Teamsters are reiterating demands that Congress pass the Warehouse Worker Protection Act (WWPA). The WWPA is a bipartisan bill that holds corporations like Amazon accountable for dangerous safety practices and abusive production quotas in the warehousing industry.
“This report confirms what we’ve all known for a long time – Amazon is abusing its workers to the point of physical harm just so it can squeeze more money from its churn-and-burn, bloodthirsty business model,” said Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien. “Worker health and safety can’t wait – this legislation needs to make its way through both chambers of Congress and be signed into law immediately.”
O’Brien also addressed the retail behemoth in his speech to the Republican National Convention last night.
“What’s sickening is that Amazon has abandoned any national allegiance,” he said. “Amazon’s sole focus is on lining its own pockets. Remember: elites have no party. Elites have no nation. Their loyalty is to the balance sheet and to the stock price at the expense of the American citizen.”
The report, commissioned and released by HELP Chairman Sen. Bernie Sanders (I – Vt.), has led to the company being forced to disclose its safety data publicly for the first time. The committee found that during Prime Day 2019, Amazon’s injury rate spiked to 45 per 100 workers – nearly half of its warehouse staff. It also revealed that the company has been underreporting its injury rates.
“The company continues to create excessive demand and push workers to extremes to meet that demand—often in ways that require workers to operate far beyond what is reasonable or safe,” the report said. “This is not an acceptable set of practices from one of the richest companies in the world. Amazon must address its injury crisis and ensure that all workers are safe at their jobs, especially during the most intense and demanding periods.”
Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents 1.3 million hardworking people in the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico. Visit Teamster.org for more information. Follow us on Twitter @Teamsters and “like” us on Facebook at Facebook.com/teamsters.