DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Amazon Prime Day ‘major cause of injuries’ for workers, Senate finds
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-17 | by ( Olesya Dmitracova | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

London CNN —Amazon’s warehouses are especially dangerous for workers during the company’s annual Prime Day event, as well as the holiday season, according to an investigation by the US Senate. Prime Day, held on Tuesday and Wednesday this week, is “a major cause of injuries for the warehouse workers who make it possible,” said a report released Monday by Sen. Bernie Sanders, who chairs the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. But Amazon’s total injury rate, which includes injuries the company does not have to report to OSHA, was just under 45 per 100 workers, the report said. Amazon raked in $12.7 billion in sales on July 11 and 12 last year, its Prime Day 2023 event, and said July 11 was the single biggest sales day in the company’s history. When faced with worker injuries, Amazon provides minimal medical care.”Amazon holds Prime Day in July every year to juice sales numbers during what are typically slow summer months.

Persons: ”, Sen, Bernie Sanders, ” Kelly Nantel, we’ve, “, Andy Jassy, Sanders Organizations: London CNN, Senate, Prime, Health, Education, Labor, Pensions, Occupational Safety, Health Administration, OSHA, Amazon, CNN

☆ Amazon's Prime Day a 'major' cause of worker injuries, Senate probe finds
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-16 | by ( Annie Palmer | In Annierpalmer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

An Amazon workers pull a cart of packages for delivery on E 14th Street on July 12, 2022 in New York City. Amazon Prime Day, the 48-hour discount blitz that kicks off Tuesday, is a "major" cause of worker injuries, according to the preliminary results of a Senate probe. The Senate's Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee on Tuesday released the interim results of a yearlong investigation into Amazon's warehouse working conditions just as the company holds its annual Prime Day deals event. The report cites an internal Amazon document, titled "2021 Prime Day Lessons Learned," which states Amazon "met only 71.2 percent of its hiring target," between May and June of 2021, ending the week of that year's Prime Day event. Amazon has faced scrutiny in recent years over its workplace injury record and its treatment of warehouse and delivery workers.

Persons: Sen, Bernie Sanders, Kelly Nantel, Nantel, It's, it's Organizations: Amazon, Health, Education, Labor, Pensions, Occupational Safety, Health Administration, OSHA, U.S, Attorney's, U.S . Department of Justice Locations: New York City, Vermont, U.S

☆ Amazon is the No. 1 company to work for in the U.S. for the third year in a row, according to LinkedIn
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Morgan Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

1 company to work for in the U.S., according to new research from LinkedIn: For the third year in a row, Amazon has claimed the top spot on the networking platform's annual Top Companies list, followed by Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase. Meta, which ranked twelfth on LinkedIn's list last year, was not eligible for this year's list after announcing it was eliminating approximately 13% of its workforce in November 2022. Just last month, Amazon told its staff the company would lay off 9,000 more employees in the coming weeks. 1 on LinkedIn's list for the third consecutive year. Amazon maintained its top spot after making a "significant investment" to support employees' upskilling and raise salaries, says Roth.

☆ Amazon's worker safety hazards come under fire from regulators and the DOJ
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-15 | by ( Katie Tarasov | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

In 2021, Amazon's injury rate was almost 1.5 times the industry average. Jennifer Crane works through pain at an Amazon warehouse in St. Peters, Missouri, after hurting her wrist in October. Amazon worker Jennifer Crane at her house outside St. Louis, Missouri, in 2022. OSHA also cited Amazon for 14 record-keeping violations, finding that the company failed to properly report worker injuries and illnesses. If you're rushing, you're going to make mistakes and someone's going to get hurt."

☆ Amazon warehouse workers are seriously injured at twice the rate of employees at similar warehouses, study finds
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Grace Mayer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The serious injury rate among Amazon warehouse workers is more than double the rate at other warehouses. The report also found that the rate of "serious" injuries was more than double the serious-injury rate at other warehouses. In 2022, the serious-injury rate among Amazon warehouse workers was 6.6 serious injuries for every 100 workers — more than double the rate at other warehouses, which was 3.2 serious injuries for every 100 workers. But both years reflected an increase in serious injuries compared to 2020, when Amazon's serious injury rate was 5.9 for every 100 workers. At the end of 2022, Amazon was hit with 14 citations from federal regulators for failing to record workers' injuries.

☆ Amazon told lawmakers it wouldn't build storm shelters in warehouses after fatal collapse
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Annie Palmer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Amazon said it won't build storm shelters in its warehouses after a tornado ripped through one of its Illinois facilities more than a year ago, killing six workers. OSHA guidelines say that basements, storm cellars or small interior rooms provide the best protection from a tornado. Amazon previously said it followed federal guidance to tell employees to take shelter immediately after there was a tornado warning. The families of two employees killed in the building collapse have filed wrongful death lawsuits against Amazon and the companies that built the warehouse. Reconstruction of the Edwardsville warehouse began in June, according to KSDK, the NBC affiliate in St. Louis, Missouri.

☆ Federal regulators tell Amazon that the 'gamification' of its warehouses contributes to a 'high risk of serious' injury
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Sindhu Sundar | Katherine Long | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Amazon was cited again by federal regulators alleging its warehouse workers face "high" injury risks. Regulators said a "gamification system" encouraged working at a fast pace that could pose injury. Amazon said it is cooperating with investigators and that it has worked to lower injury rates. In a letter targeting the warehouse in Idaho, OSHA said Amazon should change its "gamification system to eliminate incentives for excessively paced work." In recent months, Amazon has been hit by similar OSHA citations relating to injury risks facing workers, and to how it tracked and monitored those injuries.

☆ Amazon cited by Labor Department for second time in a month over warehouse injuries
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Annie Palmer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Federal safety inspectors on Wednesday issued citations against Amazon at three of its warehouses for putting workers at risk of serious injury, the second such penalty in a month. The move comes after OSHA last month cited Amazon for failing to keep workers safe at three other facilities. "Amazon's operating methods are creating hazardous work conditions and processes, leading to serious worker injuries," said Doug Parker, assistant secretary for Occupational Safety and Health, in a statement. Amazon also faces a separate investigation by the U.S. Attorney's Office's civil division that centers around worker safety hazards at the e-retailer's facilities nationwide. As part of the probe, investigators are also looking into whether Amazon has accurately reported worker injuries and if it misrepresented those injuries to lenders to obtain credit.

☆ U.S. agency says Amazon.com exposed workers to safety hazards
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Jonathan Stempel | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol/File PhotoNEW YORK, Jan 18 (Reuters) - A U.S. government agency on Wednesday issued citations against Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) for failing to keep warehouse workers safe, by exposing them to ergonomic hazards that resulted in serious injuries. The agency said workers at the Florida facility were also exposed to "struck-by" hazards, where merchandise that was unevenly stacked or not secured was susceptible to collapse. Doug Parker, the head of OSHA, said Amazon's processes were "designed for speed but not safety, and they resulted in serious worker injuries." Amazon has said it invests hundreds of millions of dollars annually to ensure worker safety. Safety concerns, including after the deaths of six workers when an Amazon warehouse in Edwardsville, Illinois, collapsed during a December 2021 tornado, have helped spur union campaigns at Amazon warehouses across the country.

☆ US Labor Department accuses Amazon of failing to keep warehouse workers safe
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Catherine Thorbecke | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Amazon has been accused by federal safety regulators of failing to keep warehouse workers safe from workplace hazards at three US facilities, in the latest example of government officials scrutinizing the e-commerce giant’s labor practices. The Department of Labor said Wednesday that its Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited Amazon and issued hazard letters related to injury risks from workers lifting packages after inspecting three warehouse facilities in Deltona, Florida; Waukegan, Illinois; and New Windsor, New York. An Amazon spokesperson said the company “strongly” disagrees with OSHA’s claims and intends to appeal. “We’ve cooperated fully, and the government’s allegations don’t reflect the reality of safety at our sites,” Kelly Nantel, an Amazon spokesperson, told CNN in a statement Wednesday. But Amazon is also known for carefully tracking worker productivity and for working conditions that have been called “grueling.”“We have to keep up with the pace,” Jennifer Bates, an Amazon warehouse employee who helped organize a union push at an Alabama facility, said in testimony before the Senate Budget Committee in 2021.

☆ Amazon union victory at Staten Island warehouse upheld by federal labor board
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Annie Palmer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Amazon workers arrive with paperwork to unionize at the NLRB office in Brooklyn, New York, October 25, 2021. A federal labor agency on Wednesday certified an independent union's landmark victory at Amazon 's Staten Island warehouse and threw out a litany of objections filed by the e-retailer. In April, a majority of the roughly 8,300 workers at Amazon's Staten Island warehouse, known as JFK8, voted to join the Amazon Labor Union, becoming the company's first unionized facility in the U.S. Amazon sought to overturn the results of the election, alleging the National Labor Relations Board office that oversaw the election interfered in the union drive. "As we've said since the beginning, we don't believe this election process was fair, legitimate, or representative of the majority of what our team wants," Nantel said. Workers at a nearby facility on Staten Island rejected unionization in May, and the ALU lost an election at an Albany warehouse in October.

☆ Amazon slammed by US government for failing to record warehouse-worker injuries. The investigation is ongoing.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Katherine Long | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The US government is investigating Amazon warehouses in five states. Federal regulators slapped Amazon with 14 citations for failing to record workers' injuries. The company's self-reported data to the Department of Labor shows that Amazon warehouse employees get hurt roughly twice as often, on average, as non-Amazon workers in the same industry. One worker at an Amazon warehouse in Colorado, for instance, reported shoulder pain after repeatedly lifting packages. Following referrals from the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, the Department of Labor began investigating the Amazon warehouses this summer.

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), a part of the Labor Department, said it had cited Amazon for 14 separate recordkeeping violations, and the company faces $29,000 in fines. OSHA fines generally cannot exceed about $14,500 per violation, and are often much lower for recordkeeping violations. The company's safety record came under renewed scrutiny during the COVID-19 pandemic and after an Illinois warehouse collapsed during a tornado last year, killing six workers. OSHA said on Friday that Amazon had failed to keep proper records at a warehouse near Albany, New York, where workers in October voted against joining a union. Washington state's labor department in March fined Amazon $60,000 for violating workplace safety laws by requiring warehouse employees to perform repetitive motions at a fast pace, increasing their risk of injury.

☆ Amazon workers strike in the US and 30 other countries on Black Friday in global 'Make Amazon Pay' campaign
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( Hayley Cuccinello | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Protests by Amazon workers and allies were planned in 30-plus countries on Black Friday. The Make Amazon Pay campaign comes as Amazon faces unionization efforts across the globe. The campaign is led by Make Amazon Pay, a coalition of 70 trade unions and organizations including Greenpeace, Oxfam, and Amazon Workers International. Protests were planned in more than 30 countries, including India, Germany, and Japan, according to Make Amazon Pay. Gig Workers Association (GigWA) in association with Amazon Warehouse workers and Hawkers Joint Action Committee participate in a protest in New Delhi, Friday, Nov. 25, 2022.

☆ Amazon lays off some devices employees: Read the memo from hardware chief Dave Limp
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Annie Palmer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Amazon is laying off some employees in its devices and services unit, hardware chief Dave Limp wrote in a memo to workers on Wednesday. The e-retailer is consolidating some teams and programs in its devices and services unit after "a deep set of reviews" of the business, Limp wrote. "It pains me to have to deliver this news as we know we will lose talented Amazonians from the Devices & Services org as a result." The job cuts are part of broader layoffs hitting Amazon as it stares down a worsening economic outlook. While the cuts may total 10,000 people, there is no specific target for total job cuts, the person said.

☆ Amazon confirms it has begun laying off employees
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Catherine Thorbecke | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Amazon confirmed on Wednesday that layoffs had begun at the company, two days after multiple outlets reported the e-commerce giant planned to cut around 10,000 employees this week. Amazon and other tech firms significantly ramped up hiring over the past couple of years as the pandemic shifted consumers’ habits towards e-commerce. Facebook-parent Meta recently announced 11,000 job cuts, the largest in the company’s history. Twitter also announced widespread job cuts after Elon Musk bought the company for $44 billion, funded in part by debt financing. After reaching record highs during the pandemic, shares of Amazon have shed more than 40% in 2022 so far.

☆ Amazon CEO Andy Jassy violated labor laws with union remarks, federal agency alleges
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Annie Palmer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy violated federal labor laws when he remarked in recent interviews that employees could be negatively affected by unions, a federal labor agency said. He echoed those comments in the Bloomberg interview, saying workers would be "better off without a union." The complaint also requests that Amazon mail and email workers a notice informing them of their labor rights. Last week, Amazon workers at a fulfillment center near Albany rejected unionization. WATCH: Watch CNBC's full interview with Amazon CEO Andy Jassy on his first annual letter to shareholders

The Amazon logo is seen outside its JFK8 distribution center in Staten Island, New York, U.S. November 25, 2020. In a filing, Attorney General Letitia James agreed not to seek review of a May state court decision that had found federal law preempted her claims that Amazon violated state labor statutes. She had alleged in Feb. 2021 that Amazon had retaliated against two New York City workers protesting warehouse safety conditions. As part of the agreement, Amazon withdrew its own lawsuit against New York state, which had alleged James overstepped her bounds in pandemic dealings with the retailer. The court’s prior dismissal of the New York Attorney General’s lawsuit, and today’s agreement to end the litigation altogether, is the right outcome given our actions in response to the pandemic."

☆ Amazon has changed how warehouses work in America. Some unions are using it as a chance to organize.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Sindhu Sundar | Juliana Kaplan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Amazon has said warehouse workers can take breaks for activities like using the bathroom, talking to coworkers and managers, and grabbing snacks. A worker on an Amazon warehouse floor can be tasked with packing hundreds of boxes an hour. A worker on an Amazon warehouse floor can be tasked with packing hundreds of boxes an hour. But the Amazon Labor Union, a new union led by current and former Amazon workers, said its Staten Island victory had energized other workers. "There's one Amazon facility that's being built right behind the Victorville facility as we speak," he said.

☆ Amazon workers in Albany vote against unionization, labor leader calls it 'sham election'
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Annie Palmer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Employees at an Amazon warehouse near Albany overwhelmingly rejected a unionization effort on Tuesday, delivering a blow to an upstart labor union seeking to organize workers at the retail giant. Officials said 949 workers at the ALB1 warehouse were eligible to vote on whether they should become part of the Amazon Labor Union. ALU's victory at JFK8 was a watershed moment for the labor movement, establishing the first unionized Amazon warehouse in the U.S. Workers at an Amazon warehouse in Southern California last week filed a union petition with the hopes of joining the ALU. Amazon workers at facilities in California, Illinois and Georgia recently held walkouts, in time for Amazon's fall Prime Day discount event, to urge the company to respond to employee concerns around working conditions.

☆ Amazon workers vote against forming union in upstate New York
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Catherine Thorbecke | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —Amazon workers in upstate New York have voted against forming a union, dealing another blow to a grassroots labor group attempting to organize several of the tech giant’s US warehouses. Workers at the facility, called ALB1, were seeking to organize with the Amazon Labor Union, the same grassroots worker group that successfully formed the first-ever union at a US Amazon facility in Staten Island, New York, earlier this year. The Albany vote was the ALU’s third attempt to unionize an Amazon warehouse, after it fell short of securing a union win at a smaller Amazon facility also located in Staten Island. It also comes as Amazon has still not formally recognized the union in Staten Island or come to the bargaining table. But ahead of the Albany vote last week, Smalls appeared to play down the ramifications of the outcome, suggesting the organizing activity itself is a victory.

☆ Labor board rejects Amazon's push to overturn its workers' historic union victory
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-02 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Amazon is about to lose its bid to overturn its workers' vote to form their first labor union. With the objections cleared, the labor union would be free to pursue certification with the NLRB. The warehouse workers had been the first in the e-commerce company's history to successfully form a union, voting in April to join the newly founded Amazon Labor Union. With Thursday's decision, the Amazon Labor Union is now cleared to pursue certification as the first recognized labor unit in the logistics giant — four months after workers voted to do so. Amazon and the Amazon Labor Union did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment.

Search resuls for: "Nantel"

22 mentions found