cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/29572294

On the heels of thousands of Amazon workers voting to authorize a strike at the company’s first-ever unionized warehouse, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), yesterday released a report entitled “The ‘Injury-Productivity Trade-off’: How Amazon’s Obsession with Speed Creates Uniquely Dangerous Warehouses.” The report presents the findings of a sweeping, 18-month investigation led by Chairman Sanders into Amazon’s abysmal workplace safety practices.

  • @s38b35M5
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    921 hours ago

    The Committee’s investigation uncovered new evidence that Amazon knows that its productivity standards for workers are the reason they are so frequently injured. Amazon even developed proposals to lower its injury rates. But the company chose not to implement them because it was afraid they would hurt its bottom line. Instead, the company proposed a different theory: That the real reason for workers’ injuries was their own “frailty” and the higher “intrinsic likelihood of injury” among certain workers. Amazon refused to make changes that could protect workers from injuries and pain — choosing to protect its profits instead.

    Amazon also misrepresents its injury rates to regulators and the public, claiming its warehouses are far safer than they truly are. Ironically, Heather MacDougall, former Amazon Vice President of Health & Safety, is now under consideration by President-elect Trump to lead the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which is tasked with ensuring the health and safety of U.S. workers.

    Sounds about right for the worst timeline…