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In Blistering Senate Report, Bernie Sanders Says Amazon Ignored Warnings Over Worker Safety
This week, a Senate committee helmed by noted populist firebrand Bernie Sanders published a report accusing e-commerce giant Amazon of having fostered a working environment that is dangerous to its workers’ health. Worse, the report claims that the company has been aware that its internal policies are harming its workers but that it has repeatedly chosen to ignore those harms for the sake of corporate profit. Amazon has roundly rejected the report’s conclusions.
The report, which was produced by the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, reveals that Amazon has conducted a number of internal studies designed to assess risks to worker health and safety. Those reports, variously dubbed “Project Elderwand” and “Project Soteria,” ultimately found that the company’s quota system (in which workers are required to meet certain productivity thresholds) and its focus on speed (workers are pressured to complete tasks quickly, the report claims) was driving workers to injure themselves. The reports suggested that Amazon relax its quota requirements so as to refrain from harming its workers. However, the New York Times writes that the company’s top executives ultimately “rejected the recommendations” from its internally commissioned reports.
Indeed, the committee said that it had found that “Amazon is not only aware of the connection between speed and injuries, but also that the company specifically rejected potential safety improvements, accepting injuries to its workers as the cost of doing business.” The report further notes, “Incredibly, while the company refuses to adopt” its own “recommended safety improvements, it also presents a misleading narrative about its injury rates and claims its warehouses are far safer than they truly are.”
The report, which was produced by the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, reveals that Amazon has conducted a number of internal studies designed to assess risks to worker health and safety. Those reports, variously dubbed “Project Elderwand” and “Project Soteria,” ultimately found that the company’s quota system (in which workers are required to meet certain productivity thresholds) and its focus on speed (workers are pressured to complete tasks quickly, the report claims) was driving workers to injure themselves. The reports suggested that Amazon relax its quota requirements so as to refrain from harming its workers. However, the New York Times writes that the company’s top executives ultimately “rejected the recommendations” from its internally commissioned reports.
Indeed, the committee said that it had found that “Amazon is not only aware of the connection between speed and injuries, but also that the company specifically rejected potential safety improvements, accepting injuries to its workers as the cost of doing business.” The report further notes, “Incredibly, while the company refuses to adopt” its own “recommended safety improvements, it also presents a misleading narrative about its injury rates and claims its warehouses are far safer than they truly are.”
https://gizmodo.com/in-blistering-senate-report-bernie-sanders-says-amazon-ignored-warnings-over-worker-safety-2000539603