A coalition of Amazon employees left work on Monday at an air freight facility in San Bernardino, Calif., demanding better pay and working conditions, in the latest sign that worker organizing efforts continue. to spread across the technology giant’s vast retail and logistics network.
The workers’ group organizing the strike calls itself the Inland Empire Amazon Workers United and said in online posts that more than 150 employees took part in its coordinated work strike on Monday.
Amazon, however, disputes that number and said only 74 workers participated. Regardless of the actual figure, the protesters represented a tiny fraction of the 1,500 employees at the facility known as KSBD.
In a statement posted online by the workers’ group, organizers said they had gathered more than 800 signatures for a petition calling for the base salary at the facility to be raised to $22 an hour, up from $17.
The workers’ organization cited rising rents and the cost of living in the area in its statement demanding better wages.
In the statement, they also claimed that “unsafe heat conditions” remain in many work areas and noted that temperatures reached 95 degrees Fahrenheit or higher at San Bernardino Cargo Airport on two dozen days last month.
“Working in the heat feels like you are suffocating,” said a worker identified as Melissa Ojeda in the statement released by the group. “You have to take breaks and you can overheat very easily. They don’t make it easy to take breaks to let your body cool down.”
Paul Flaningan, an Amazon spokesperson, said in a statement provided to CNN Business that the company “prouds to provide full-time employees at our San Bernardino Hub and across the region with a starting minimum wage of $17 per hour.”
Flaningan added that full-time employees can earn up to $19.25 an hour and also receive “industry-leading benefits including day-one health care, a profit-sharing plan and up to 20 weeks of paid parental leave.”
“While there are many established ways to ensure that we listen to the views of our employees within our business, we also respect their right to share their views externally,” the statement added.
“While we are always listening and looking for ways to improve, we remain proud of the competitive pay, comprehensive benefits, and engaging and safe work experience we offer our teams in the region.”
The outage comes in the wake of unionization efforts at other Amazon facilities. Earlier this year, warehouse workers in Staten Island, New York, voted to form the first US union in Amazon’s history.
Amazon workers also pushed to unionize at a facility in Bessemer, Alabama, and at an Amazon Fresh location in Seattle.
The organizing efforts underway within Amazon continue to garner support from labor advocates and progressive politicians across the country, including Senator Bernie Sanders, who has long been a vocal critic of the company.
“I stand in solidarity with Amazon workers in San Bernardino, CA who left work today to protest low pay and unsafe working conditions,” Sanders tweeted Monday night.
He also referred to Amazon CEO Andy Jassy’s total compensation package awarded in 2021, adding, “If Amazon was able to pay its CEO $214 million last year, it could give its employees a pay raise.” $5 an hour and a safe workplace.”
Source: CNN Brasil
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