Senate Launches Investigation Into Amazon’s Alleged ‘Dangerous And Illegal’ Warehouse Labor Practices

Topline

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has launched an investigation into Amazon to examine allegations of “dangerous and illegal” working conditions for employees inside its distribution warehouses, marking the latest high-profile labor probe sparked by the democratic socialist senator after former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz was called for a dramatic hearing about his alleged union busting.

Bernie Sanders questioned Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz over union practices during a hearing in … [+] March.

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Key Facts

As chair of the health, education, labor and pension (HELP) Senate committee, Sanders wrote a letter Tuesday to Amazon CEO Andy Jassy demanding more information about worker injuries, turnover, productivity targets and adherence to federal and state regulations.

The letter alleged Amazon’s injury rates are “systematically underreported,” highlighting a report by a group of labor unions showing the company’s serious injury rate was double the industry average in 2021.

Sanders requested that Jassy and Amazon respond by July 5.

Contra

Amazon said in a statement it was reviewing the letter after receiving it this morning, and underlined it had reduced workplace injuries by 23% since 2019.

Key Background

Amazon’s warehouses have faced scrutiny for years, as workers have spoken out about unsafe conditions and the media has investigated facilities, finding disability coverage violations, high turnover and injury risks, often in the name of efficiency. Most recently, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) fined three Amazon warehouses a total of $60,269 in January—a drop in the bucket for the company, which made $33.4 billion in 2022—for putting workers at risk of sprains, strains and carpal tunnel syndrome.

Tangent

At the start of his role as HELP committee chairman in January, Sanders sent a letter to Schultz demanding he end its “union busting campaign,” alleging the company was refusing to bargain in good faith with workers who wanted to unionize. Pressured by an upcoming Senate vote to subpoena him, Schultz agreed to appear for a hearing before Sanders in March, where he denied any union busting practices. Sanders told the Washington Post it’s “an absolute possibility” that he may attempt to call Jassy or Amazon founder Jeff Bezos to testify in a similar hearing.

Big Number

39,000. That’s roughly how many injuries Amazon had in its warehouses in 2022, according to a report from labor union coalition Strategic Organizing Center, which used data from OSHA and is referenced throughout Sanders’ letter to Jassy. The report found Amazon’s injury rate was 70% higher than the rate of non-Amazon warehouse workers. It also found Amazon had twice the number of serious injuries compared with the warehouse industry, which Amazon has “publicly disputed” because OSHA does not have a “serious injury” category, Amazon spokesman Steve Kelly told Forbes. “We’ve taken issue in the past with the underlying data used in the chairman’s letter,” Kelly said.