REVERE, Mass. — Senator Ed Markey, along with members of the Teamsters Union and Amazon warehouse workers, rallied outside a facility in Revere on Tuesday pushing for better working conditions.
Markey is spearheading the passage of the Warehouse Worker Protection Act, which he says will prohibit dangerous work speed quotas that lead to worker injuries. It will also require companies to disclose what quotas apply to which workers and directs the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to create an ergonomic management standard for warehouse workers.
“I am proud to stand with warehouse workers to call attention to the exploitative and dangerous conditions at Amazon. Companies like Amazon would rather protect their bottom line than protect the workers that make their companies run. Workers are forced to break their own backs to try and make a living for themselves and their families,” said Senator Markey.
Teamsters Local 25 President Tom Mari echoed similar sentiments about the importance of protecting warehouse workers.
“Amazon is leading a race to the bottom where corporations abuse warehouse workers and sacrifice their health and safety for profits,” Mari said. “The Warehouse Worker Protection Act will force transparency and accountability and raise the standards nationwide in an industry that used to provide good, union, middle class jobs everywhere.”
In a statement, Amazon says it’s a common misconception that they don’t give their workers enough break time and that they’re committed to manageable workloads and setting reasonable expectations:
“Since 2019, we’ve invested more than $1.5 billion into safety initiatives and our U.S. recordable injury rates at warehouses have dropped 28 percent. While this legislation is based on a misunderstanding of how we set performance goals at sites, we appreciate the underlying goal and already meet or exceed many of the requirements it proposes. For example, we already provide employees with access to their performance relative to their peers. We invite Senators to tour our facilities and see how we prioritize both safety and delivering packages to customers across the globe.”
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