Workers Demand Safer Working Conditions at Hudson Valley Facility

(ROCK TAVERN, N.Y.) – Amazon warehouse workers at the SWF1 Facility in Rock Tavern, New York, went on an unfair labor practice strike today, following months of Amazon ignoring their calls for safer working conditions.

The workers are demanding an end to unsafe Amazon policies, such as dangerous conveyor belt speeds and neglect from Amazon managers when substandard conditions are reported. Workers are also fighting to stop unfair productivity write-ups.

“My co-workers and I are constantly telling Amazon about our safety concerns, but we are always ignored and told that we don’t know what we are talking about. That’s not only disrespectful to us, it also puts our health and safety at unnecessary risk,” said Javier Rivera, a warehouse worker at SWF1. “If Amazon won’t listen to us on the floor, then we will force it to listen to us on the street. We will not rest until Amazon starts treating us with the dignity every worker deserves.”

Workers routinely witness Amazon prioritize profits and productivity over safe working conditions. Many at SWF1 have to sort and search for items in aisles strewn with packages and dodge falling parcels on the job. Amazon’s labor sharing policy often reclassifies workers into departments without proper training, setting them up to fail. Workers have posted about such safety concerns on the company’s digital Voice of the Associate board, but instead of fixing the problems, Amazon deletes their messages.

“Amazon wants us to be scared because Amazon knows it has no answer for worker solidarity and worker power. When we stand together and stand up for each other, there is nothing that we can’t accomplish,” said Scott Spath, a warehouse worker at SWF1. “We are done waiting on Amazon to fix these problems. The only way to win the respect we deserve is by taking it, and we are doing that here at SWF1.”

Workers at SWF1 are on the picket line today demanding that Amazon obey the law and end its unfair labor practices at the facility.

Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents over 1.3 million hardworking people in the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico. Visit Teamster.org for more information. Follow us on X @Teamsters and on Facebook at Facebook.com/teamsters.

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