Workers at Amazon’s SWF1 warehouse in Rock Tavern, New York, walked off the job Tuesday in an unfair labor practice strike, saying the company has ignored their safety complaints for months, according to the Teamsters union press release. Amazon called the action an illegal attempt to threaten and intimidate workers.
The strike was organized through the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which represents workers at the Orange County facility, Hudson Valley Post reported. Workers held a picket outside the building, according to Mid Hudson News.
What the workers are demanding
The Teamsters said the workers want an end to what they called unsafe Amazon policies, including dangerous conveyor belt speeds and neglect from managers when substandard conditions are reported. They are also fighting what they describe as unfair productivity write-ups.
According to the union, many workers at SWF1 have to sort and search for items in aisles strewn with packages and dodge falling parcels on the job. The union said Amazon’s labor sharing policy often reclassifies workers into departments without proper training. Workers have posted about safety concerns on the company’s digital Voice of the Associate board, the Teamsters said, but Amazon deletes the messages instead of fixing the problems.
Mid Hudson News reported that workers say they have repeatedly raised concerns about conveyor belt speeds, crowded aisles, falling packages and being reassigned to departments without adequate training. The workers also allege that managers have failed to address reported safety issues.
What workers said
“My co-workers and I are constantly telling Amazon about our safety concerns, but we are always ignored and told that we don’t know what we are talking about,” said Javier Rivera, a warehouse worker at SWF1, in the Teamsters release. “That’s not only disrespectful to us, it also puts our health and safety at unnecessary risk.”
“If Amazon won’t listen to us on the floor, then we will force it to listen to us on the street,” Rivera said. “We will not rest until Amazon starts treating us with the dignity every worker deserves.”
Scott Spath, another SWF1 warehouse worker, said in the same release: “Amazon wants us to be scared because Amazon knows it has no answer for worker solidarity and worker power. When we stand together and stand up for each other, there is nothing that we can’t accomplish.” He added: “We are done waiting on Amazon to fix these problems. The only way to win the respect we deserve is by taking it, and we are doing that here at SWF1.”
The Teamsters said workers were on the picket line demanding that Amazon obey the law and end its unfair labor practices at the facility.
Amazon’s response
Amazon spokesperson Eileen Hards gave Hudson Valley Post a statement calling the demonstration “yet another example of their illegal attempts to threaten and intimidate workers, block entry and exit to our facilities, and interfere with our operations.”
“Our employees have the choice of whether or not to join a union. They always have,” Hards said. “The fact is we already provide much of what the Teamsters are requesting including safe and inclusive workplaces, competitive pay, health benefits on day one, and opportunities for career growth.” She added that the company’s teams “remain focused on doing what they do best: delivering for customers.”
The union
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters was founded in 1903 and says it represents more than 1.3 million people in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.
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