Amazon is responsible for half the warehouse injuries in 2021

Amazon employs about a third of the workforce in warehouses in the United States, but nearly half of all work-related accidents at these types of sites occurred at e-commerce in 2021, according to a report released by a union coalition on Tuesday, April 12th. According to the Center for Strategic Organization (SOC), more than 34,000 workers at Amazon logistics centers have been affected. “Severe Injuries” At their workplace last year, it was more than twice the size of non-US warehouses in Seattle.

Read moreAmazon opens its largest French warehouse in Mets

“After relaxing some of its regulatory systems in the first months of the Covit-19 epidemic, Amazon restored its control systems and production pressure by the end of 2020, after which the injury rate increased significantly.”, Says SOC. The Coalition claims to have relied on data provided by Amazon to OSHA, the federal agency responsible for preventing work accidents. The panel did not immediately respond to AFP’s request.

From 700 sites in 2020 to more than 900 sites in 2021

Amazon has been hired with revenge during epidemics. According to the report, in the United States, the company will grow from approximately 700 sites by 2020 to more than 900 by 2021 and from 200,000 employees in 2017 to more than 560,000 by 2021. In June 2021, Amazon reviewed its work. Conditions in this country, especially by extending the gaps for its workers responsible for making, shipping and delivering packages. The move comes after the SOC’s earlier bad report and a union attempt at a company warehouse in Alabama. It failed, but the campaign exposed the pace of work that was considered hell by many employees.

Read moreAmazon web weaves in France despite criticism

“We must do better for our employees”Amazon founder Jeff Bezos wrote in his annual letter to shareholders. “We are going to be the best employer and the safest place to work on earth”, He promised, referring to measures already taken or used to reduce the risk of musculoskeletal disorders associated with repetitive tasks. But “Contrary to this assurance (…) the injury rate at Amazon warehouses has increased by 20% between 2020 and 2021”Specifies the SOC.

Employees of a site called “JFK8” in New York voted overwhelmingly at the end of March to form the first union in Amazon’s American warehouse.