Unions says Amazon 'Prime Day' puts extra strain on workers

The Star

2 days ago

BRUSSELS: Dehumanised and disposable is how Amazon workers in Poland, Germany and France described how they felt working in the online retail giant's warehouses.
"You are no longer Julie or Ludovic, you are number 412, and you can be replaced by number 313," El Djoudi Laouedj, an area manager and trade union member at Amazon's Lauwin-Planque warehouse in France told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
With Amazon's global Prime Day deals taking place between July 8-11, there will be even more deliveries to prepare during the longest sale yet, in which the company typically does 1-2% of its annual business.
In interviews, European warehouse workers and union representatives said Prime Day meant extra hours in sometimes sweltering temperatures and a heightened risk of injuries.
A report commissioned by Democratic Senator Bernie Sanders' office last year found the shopping event was a "major source of injuries" for workers in the United States.
The company, the biggest US online retailer, said its goal was to have the "safest workplaces in our industries". It said it had invested more than US$2bil (RM 8.51bil) in safety improvements since 2019, and that injuries requiring more than basic first aid were down 34% in the past five years.
Amazon workers and labour leaders told the Thomson Reuters Foundation they wanted the e-commerce giant to come to the bargaining table and make work more sustainable.
"It's a company that has created lots of jobs around the world. We don't want Amazon to close," said Laouedj. "We want conditions to improve."
'Continual stress'
Prime Day has turned July, typically a slow time for retailers, into a season when shoppers look for bargains.
Although not officially requested by management or artificial intelligence tools used by workers, the pressure of extra Prime Day orders is "felt on the floor" of the warehouse, Laouedj said, as trucks need to be filled and orders despatched.
"Thank god we can still go to the toilet, but if we take too long a manager will come to check," said Habib Latreche, a logistics operator and Yellow Vest union member.
The pressure to work at a dangerous pace, performing repetitive motions, with sometimes broken cooling systems, can lead to injuries, a situation that has worsened in recent years, according to workers.
"It creates a continual stress, we have to work well and we have be safe, but we have to work fast," Latreche said, adding that workers were the ones "paying the price" of ever-faster deliveries.
The pace of work and repetitive movements can result in a musculoskeletal disorder, commonly known as strain and sprains, which make up 57% of all recordable injuries at Amazon globally, according to the company.
To address this, Amazon has invested in safety improvements including adjustable height workstations, and robotic systems that handle repetitive tasks and heavy lifting, as well as measures to prevent heat stress.
Yet some German workers still criticise the high pressure to perform, and constant digital monitoring, leading to high levels of psychological stress, according to Monika Di Silvestre, trade union secretary of UNI Europa affiliate ver.di union in Germany.
Some workers in Polish warehouses said the pressure was relentless. Agata Wypior, leader of Solidarity Amazon Poland, said according to the union's survey, more than 44% of employees gave up breaks to meet a target.
"Amazon sets targets through artificial intelligence that only a robot, not a human, can meet," Wypior said, adding that the pressure was not limited to peak periods. "We have Prime Day every day".
Asked about the workers' comments, an Amazon spokesperson said in emailed responses: "The safety and wellbeing of our people is our top priority. We assess performance based on safe and achievable expectations and take into account time and tenure, peer performance and adherence to safe work practices."
The company also says performance is only measured when an employee is at their station and logged in. It also said internal data showed that around 80% of employees in Poland eat at the canteen and the rest bring their own meals.
Humans not robots
Adding to the pressure is the fear of being replaced by robots and artificial intelligence. "A human gets sick, pregnant, injured, a robot doesn't," Laouedj said. Robotisation is a recurrent theme in union discussions across Europe, as the company rolls out more robotics in its depots.
In response to questions over automation, Amazon cited a study commissioned with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology last year that found that 60% of employees across nine countries who work with robotics and AI expect positive impacts on their productivity and safety.
To address workers' fears, unions are calling for safer workplaces and relief from relentless pressure, a battle that has spread to the political arena.
EU lawmakers have stepped up their scrutiny of working conditions at Amazon. During a parliamentary hearing on June 26, senior company leaders were invited to answer questions on labour practices, but lawmakers and Amazon disagreed over which executives should attend to answer questions.
"We remain open to dialogue about our commitment to being a responsible employer in Europe," the Amazon spokesperson said in an emailed response to questions over whether it would be willing to attend a new hearing in Brussels.
Workers remain hopeful of driving change, and in some cases a return to working conditions that existed when they first started work a decade ago. Some even cite the firm's 'Day One' culture of not getting complacent after achieving success.
"They say it's always Day One at Amazon. So we can always go back to being amazed. I still hope so," said Wypior. – Thomson Reuters Foundation