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December
29, 2020 - No. 86
The Fight to Uphold the Dignity of Labour
Just
Demands of Amazon Workers
  
•
Amazon's Workforce
• Injury Rates at Amazon
Warehouses
• COVID-19 in Ontario
Workplaces
• Report of Quebec
Ombudsperson on Pandemic and Long-Term
Care
- Pierre Soublière
• Note to Our Readers
The Fight to Uphold the Dignity of Labour
Workers at an Amazon Warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama are currently
preparing to vote on joining the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store
Union. There are about 1,500 permanent full and part-time workers at
the warehouse and U.S. federal labour authorities have approved the
application for a vote, which requires that at least 30 per
cent of the workers sign an application to join the union. The company
is disputing the numbers, claiming that it has over 5,000 workers at
the warehouse, including about 3,500 temporary workers, some seasonal
and some hired due to the increased workload caused by the increase in
online shopping during the pandemic.
After three
days of hearings from December 18 to 21, involving the
company, the union and the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), an
agreement was reached on which types of workers at the warehouse would
be allowed to take part in the unionization vote, although news reports
do not specify which workers will be eligible. Whether
the vote will be by mail or in-person has yet to be agreed to. The NLRB
has yet to set the date for the vote, but news agencies report that it
is expected early next year.
The Alabama warehouse
would be the first Amazon operation in the
U.S. to be unionized. Amazon is well-known in the U.S. and Canada as a
fiercely anti-union employer.
 An
organizing website operated by the union, where workers can sign the
authorization, outlines some of the workers' demands, including the
right to negotiate "working conditions including items such as safety
standards, training, breaks, pay, benefits, and other important issues
that would make our workplace better" and points out, "The
record on Amazon's dehumanizing working conditions is well established.
Nineteen workers have died at Amazon facilities since 2013. We face
outrageous work quotas that have left many with illnesses and lifetime
injuries [...] All workers deserve to be treated with dignity and
respect -- and that includes Amazon's workers as well. Unfortunately,
Amazon -- controlled by the wealthiest person on the planet -- has a
well-documented history of mistreating and dehumanizing its workforce."
One of the current concerns is that Amazon is not providing
adequate
personal protective equipment or providing for the workers' safety
during the COVID-19 pandemic.
On September 30, NBC
reported that 40 Amazon workers from 23
facilities in the U.S. reported that many of the safety measures that Amazon had
enacted at the start of the pandemic were no longer active or difficult
to enforce, and that the company was not providing its workers with
enough information for them to make informed decisions about the
safety of their workplaces.
Amazon workers
themselves compiled data on COVID-19 cases reported
that showed that up to the end of September there had been at least
2,038 positive cases. Amazon confirmed NBC News' research that there
had been 10 deaths of Amazon workers.
September
14, 2020. Warehouse Workers Centre contingent at demonstration in
support of migrant workers and students.
The Warehouse Workers Centre (WWC) in Brampton, Ontario,
founded in January this year with support from the Canadian Union of
Postal Workers,
issued a statement in early December which included the following
demands:
"Essential workers need essential
protections NOW.
"We at the Warehouse Workers Centre
believe that the safety of
workers is paramount, and is integral to the well-being of our
province. We, the workers, are the backbone of society. Our working
conditions and pay must reflect that.
"Pandemic
pay: The Warehouse Workers Centre demands that employers
either institute, or reinstate, a wage premium of $2/hr for all workers
currently deemed essential. Furthermore, we demand that this premium be
made permanent.
 "The
second wave is here, so where's the second wave of pandemic pay?
Companies like Amazon and Loblaws announced a COVID premium of $2 per
hour in March, but then took it away the first chance they got. Now the
second wave is upon us and essential workers, in warehousing,
logistics, e-commerce, and beyond, continue to be put
at risk but are not being paid what they deserve. The majority of
workers in the warehousing sector are racialized workers who are
already fighting the pay inequity and undervaluing of their work.
"Health and safety in the workplace: The Warehouse Workers
Centre
demands that all employers implement the necessary safety precautions
to ensure that workers are safe from COVID-19. Employers must respond
to the needs of workers, including access to PPE, physical distancing,
staggered shift and break times.
"Provincial paid
sick days: We join with the Decent Work and Health
Network and call on the Federal and Ontario government to implement
permanent paid sick days for all:
"1. Require
employers to provide at least seven fully-paid days of emergency leave
on a permanent basis.
"2. Require employers to
automatically provide an additional 14 days
of fully-paid emergency leave during public health emergencies.
"3. Ensure paid emergency leave is available to all workers
regardless of employment status, immigration status, or workplace size.
"4. Prohibit employers from requiring sick notes.
"5.
Prevent the introduction of any new barriers to accessing paid
emergency leave.
"6. Ensure paid emergency leave
covers personal sickness, injury, or
emergency, as well as family emergencies and responsibilities.
"Better access to COVID testing: We need greater access to
COVID
testing amongst essential workers in warehousing, logistics and
e-commerce. Employers must provide paid leave to workers who require
testing.
"Real structural changes need to be put
in place immediately to
ensure greater health and safety for warehouse workers and our
communities at large. Workers' rights = public health!"
For
an in-depth look at the fight of gig workers for their rights in
the U.S., see the December
3, 2020 issue of Workers'
Forum on
California Proposition 22.
Reports
indicate Amazon employs 1,125,300 workers worldwide. It
added 400,000 in 2020 during the pandemic, 100,000 in October alone.
(In 2007 it had 17,000 workers and at the end of 2019 it had 798,000).
Of this global workforce, 21,000 work in its Canadian operations.[1] These numbers
include full and part-time workers.
Warehouse
Workers
Amazon calls its warehouses "fulfilment centres" which
is a specialty category. It employs more than 500,000 workers at
175 of
these "fulfillment centres" it has around the world. The workers are
called "associates."
Amazon defines its
"fullfilment centres" as
"modern, secure facilities with highly automated pick, pack, and ship
processes to facilitate the safe and timely processing of inventory and
customer orders." It has also distinguished itself for its surveillance
regimes and punitive actions against those who fail to produce at a
rate that the company
demands.
Tours of one of its 20 warehouses in the U.S. can be scheduled on line. Amazon describes a tour as follows:
"If you are imagining a warehouse filled with handcarts and
all the
books in one place and apparel in another, picture this: orange robots
balancing towers of goods twirling in what looks like a choreographed
dance across shiny concrete floors, miles of conveyor belts and ramps
carrying inventory across the building, and shipping labels
practically flying onto boxes, blown by puffs of air.
"Even
in person, the scale can be difficult to grasp: the Baltimore
center, for example, spans the equivalent of 28 football fields and can
hold millions of items on any given day. Despite the cavernous space,
the skylit climate is remarkably comfortable, kept at room temperature
year-round. Associates pick, pack, and ship Amazon.com customer
orders at more than 175 similar facilities worldwide.
"On
the hour-long tour, you'll see each part of the process and
learn about some of the roles and benefits available for associates at
fulfillment centers, including details on the following: Career Choice,
a program that offers 95 per cent prepaid tuition and fees for
coursework in
high-demand career areas, where a holiday job can lead, and how
on-the-job training can lead to a tech job without college.
"Here's
more about what you'll learn and see on a tour:
"1.
Where products enter the warehouse
"At
the inbound dock, products get taken off trailers by forklift or
manually built into pallets. Freight is separated between that coming
from another Amazon facility and directly from a vendor, such as a
seller using Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA). With FBA, small businesses
store their products at fulfillment centers, and Amazon picks, packs,
ships, and provides customer service, helping these businesses reach
more customers. Half the items sold on Amazon.com are from small
businesses and entrepreneurs.
"2. The stow
process
"Instead of storing items as a
retail store would -- electronics on
one aisle, books on another -- all of the inventory at Amazon
fulfillment centers is stowed randomly. Yellow, tiered 'pods' stack
bins full of unrelated items, all of them tracked by computers. This
counterintuitive method actually makes it easier for associates to
quickly pick and
pack a wide variety of products.
"Robots ferry
these pods to associates at stow stations based on
product size, navigating 2D barcodes on the floor and yielding way to
one another depending on which has more pressing business. The stower
looks for suitable space for each item and stows it into the pod,
making it available for purchase on Amazon.com.
"3.
Picking orders
"Pickers are like
personal shoppers, plucking from hundreds of items
a day to fulfill customer orders. When the order comes in, a robot
brings pods full of items to associates working at pick stations. The
picker reads the screen, retrieves the correct item from the bin, and
places it into a yellow plastic box called a tote.
"The
robots are incredibly smart, but they aren't competing for jobs
-- they're creating them at Amazon fulfillment centers. Transporting
thousands of pods per floor with millions of products stowed inside,
the robots enable more inventory to pass through a fulfillment center,
which means more associates are needed for handling that inventory.
Since 2012, Amazon has added tens of thousands of robots to its
fulfillment centers, while also adding more than 300,000 full-time jobs
globally.
"4. Quality assurance
"Different teams along the way ensure the fulfillment process
runs
smoothly. The Inventory Control and Quality Assurance team makes sure
an item's physical location actually matches what's in the computer,
tracking millions of units of inventory. The robots need support too,
so Amnesty Floor Monitors make sure the floors are clear and reset
the units when needed. Many other checks along the way verify the right
product goes to the right place.
"Touring an Amazon
fulfillment center, you witness firsthand a
process that is constantly being fine-tuned. While associates once
needed to hand-scan a bin location after stowing each item, for
example, machine learning now enables the system to know automatically
the location where the associate has placed the item. It's impossible
to predict
today what technological innovation you might witness in six months.
"5. Packing orders
"First,
items that belong to different shipments are organized and
scanned for accuracy. Then they're sent to the pack station, where the
computer system recommends box sizes to associates, and a machine
measures out the exact amount of tape needed. Many items are shipped in
their original boxes, and Amazon works with vendors to reduce
packaging. At this stage, there's no shipping label -- machines handle
that down the line, protecting the customer's privacy and keeping the
process efficient.
"6. Shipping orders out
"Packed envelopes and boxes then race underneath
the SLAM (Scan,
Label, Apply, Manifest) machines, which deposit shipping labels with
astonishing speed and, contrary to the name, a light touch. For quality
control, the package is weighed to make sure the contents match the
order. A shipping sorter reads package labels to determine where
and how fast customer orders should be sent, serving as a kind of
traffic conductor.
"Ready to roll, the packages are
nudged from the conveyor down
slides into the correct trailer based on shipping method, speed of
delivery, and location. Each door at the shipping dock accommodates
trailers from a variety of different carriers and locations.
"What
to know before you go
"The 60-minute
tours must be scheduled online and are open to anyone
ages 6 and up. Safety is paramount, so visitors must wear flat shoes
with a closed toe and heel, tie back long hair, and use handrails on
stairs. Your guide will run through safety tips at the outset and
provide headsets for everyone so the tour is audible above the
machinery."
Drivers
February 24, 2020.
Demonstration by Amazon workers outside company headquarters in
Minneapolis, Minnesota.
In addition, Amazon has an
estimated 500,000 drivers who deliver
packages to a consumer's home or a neighbourhood Amazon locker. Amazon
is said to have the world's largest contingent of what is called the
"last-mile delivery network." In fact, Amazon created its own delivery
network in
such a way that the basic rights of the drivers as workers
are violated. This is done in two ways: for some deliveries Amazon
contracts with drivers through "Amazon Flex." These drivers face the
same situation as other workers in the so-called gig economy who work
for Uber, Lyft and the like. They are deemed to be "independent
contractors" who provide their own vehicles or rent them. Because they
are not "employees," they are not paid an hourly wage but by completion
of routes and they are denied the right to unionize, receive minimum
wages, overtime, health care and other benefits and protections that
employers are mandated to provide their workers according to labour
laws.
The second part of Amazon's delivery network is
what are called
Delivery Service Partners (DSP), a scheme set up in 2018. DSPs are
small parcel delivery firms with no more than 40 vans. They are
considered "independent" of Amazon but their work is exclusively the
delivery of products for Amazon Prime customers. Limiting the DSP to
40 vans is a means of blocking unionization and allowing Amazon to
maintain control of the price paid per delivery. DSPs typically employ
40 to 100 workers. Although they wear Amazon uniforms and drive
Amazon-labelled vans they are not employees of Amazon. Like the Flex
drivers, the DSP drivers often work unpaid overtime, face poor
working conditions and are under constant pressure from Amazon to meet
unrealistic deadlines.
Note
1. Amazon describes
itself as
"an American multinational technology company based in Seattle,
Washington, which focuses on e-commerce, cloud computing, digital
streaming, and artificial intelligence."
In
2019, Amazon reported a net income of U.S. $11.59 billion, up from
a U.S. $10 billion net income in the previous year. During the
same fiscal period, the company's revenue amounted to more than U.S. $280.5
billion.
Chief
Executive Officer Jeff Bezos is considered the richest man
in the world with a net worth of $187 billion.
Amazon's internal records show that
the rate of 7.7 injuries per
100 workers at its U.S. warehouses is nearly double the industry
standard. These internal safety records obtained by the Toronto
Star inform
that in 2019, its injury rate in Canada was 15 per cent higher than the
company's U.S. average: 9.1 per 100 workers. In 2016, the
company's warehouse in Delta, BC, was the worst of any warehouse across
Canada and the U.S., with over 20 injuries per 100 workers. At its
Toronto-area warehouses, injury rates have more than doubled over the
last four years.
 In
2018, Amazon's worst accident year on record in Ontario, more than
two-thirds of injuries were caused by over-exertion or repetitive
motion, according to claims filed with the province's Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB). Most workers have
little to no access to sick leave. Permanent employees earn four paid
sick days, temporary employees have no sick leave benefits. At one
Toronto-area warehouse some 40 per cent of the staff are temporary.
Amazon claims that its injury rate in Ontario, based on claims
at
the workers' compensation board, is below average for the industry.
However, WSIB records
reveal the lengths to which Amazon goes to dispute and challenge
workers' injury claims and put pressure on workers not to file claims.
During 2018 and 2019, in Ontario alone, Amazon disputed close to 80 per
cent of serious injury claims. The WSIB does not classify Amazon's
warehouses, called "fulfilment centres" as warehouses, but groups them
in with "specialized retail" -- a sector where insurance premiums are
significantly lower than the riskier warehousing industry.
2019
Injury Rates at Canadian Amazon Warehouses
Calculated
by number of injuries or illness resulting in days away from work or
modified duties per 100 workers:
Mississauga, ON
-- 7.3
Milton, ON -- 13.4
Brampton, ON -- 10.4
Brampton ON -- 6.8
Bolton, ON -- 6.2
Navan, ON -- 12.1
Delta, BC -- 9.9
New Westminster, BC -- 15.5
Delta, BC -- 9.3
Rocky View County, AB -- 11.1
According to an analysis done by the Ontario Health
Coalition, the
number of COViD-19 cases in the manufacturing sector in Ontario soared
by 76 per cent over the two week period from November 18 to December 2.
The Peel region is one of the epicentres of COVID-19
infections in
Canada with a rate of 2,067 cases per 100,000 population, the highest
in Ontario. Brampton accounts for almost two-thirds of infections in
the region.
This region is known for its
warehouses. Nearly 43 per cent of the
economy is in the warehousing and logistics sector, and $1.8 billion
worth of goods pass through the region each day.
Records
from the region show at least 25 COVID-19 cases among
workers at one Brampton Amazon warehouse alone. Amazon will not confirm
the number of frontline staff who have tested positive for the virus.
However, a December 23 National Post article claims to have it from a
source familiar with the data that more than 400 staff have tested
positive at Amazon's four facilities in Peel region.
Reports from the Warehouse Workers Centre, a community
organization
in Brampton that provides resources and advocates for better jobs and
working conditions in the warehouse sector, indicate that 22 per cent
of the cases reported in the Peel region can be traced to industrial
settings as compared to 5 per cent from events, ceremonies and
religious services.
- Pierre
Soublière -
On December 10, Quebec Ombudsperson Marie Rinfret published her
progress report regarding
the province's residential and long-term care homes (CHSLDs) entitled
"COVID-19 in CHSLDs during the first wave of the pandemic: Learning
from and moving to uphold the rights and dignity of CHSLD residents."
The report is part of an
ongoing investigation which began May 26 and continues until fall 2021.
At the heart of the Quebec ombudsperson's mission is respect for people
and for their rights.
The progress report is based
on the observations and testimony of
1,355 people, 16 briefs presented by unions, users' committees and
others, as well as talks with residents, family members, CHSLD staff,
managers from the Integrated Health and Social Services Centres
(CISSSs) and Integrated University Health and Social Services Centres
(CIUSSSs), as well as complaints and incident reports.
From
the get-go, the Ombudsperson states: "The lessons to be learned
from the pandemic are clear and concrete. Any delay in decision-making
so as to go into action would now be unacceptable. The rights and
dignity of people living in the CHSLD's must be at the heart of the
issues."
As of May 12, the death toll of CHSLD
residents reached 2,059. The
report brings to light, on the basis of living testimony, the totally
inhuman and criminal situation which prevailed in the residences during
the first wave. The devotion of health workers, who were affected both
physically and psychologically, is underlined throughout the
report. Between March 1 and June 14, there were 13,581 health workers
who became infected with COVID-19, which represents 25 per cent of the
reported cases during the first wave. Eleven of these workers died, a
tragedy and a huge blow to the morale of their co-workers due
to the loss of colleagues who were close
to their hearts.
 One
of the main factors at the heart of the tragedy, the report underlines,
is the working conditions of health care workers. For example, staff
mobility -- from one CHSLD to another and, internally, from one sector
to another -- was an established practice well before the pandemic and
an integral part of human resources management. It was
one of the main factors in spreading the virus within the
CHSLDs. Notably, the ministerial orders imposed during that period only
made the situation worse by giving the employer even more latitude to
force employees to move from place to place. The report also pointed
out that during the first wave, there was a lack of personal protective
equipment as
well as other basic equipment. On top of the fact that the CHSLDs had
little to no infection prevention protocols and certainly not the
equipment needed to be able to tend to older, bed-ridden patients
suffering from COVID-19, they were called upon to quickly and massively
receive people who were hospitalized, another factor which diminished
their capacity to contain outbreaks.
The report
points out the suffering and dilemmas of caregivers who
were no longer allowed to assist patients and family members, or to be
by their side in moments of great distress and agony in most deplorable
conditions.
The report states: "The
pandemic alone cannot justify the
dehumanization of care and services or breaches in protecting our
society's most vulnerable persons." The report prioritizes measures to
be taken so that staffing is stable and sufficient. "Understaffing was
one of the main weaknesses in CHSLD's during the first wave of COVID-19
[...] It
is essential that there be a significant increase in human resources so
that the health network has real room to manoeuvre, whether in normal
times or in times of emergency." Required measures must
"incite
and persuade and be concrete and immediate." The report stresses the
urgency of fixing the systemic lack of personnel, particularly health
care assistants and nursing staff, in ways "which reflect the essential
nature of these tasks."
In conclusion, it is
pointed out that during the first wave, "the
current model for residential resources for vulnerable elderly people
was stretched to the limit" and that it is obvious "that in many living
environments and in the health care system, the means employed were
sorely incapable of ensuring respect for the residents. Here, we are
referring to respect of their dignity, their need to receive
personalized care and their desperation because their loved ones could
not be there." Regarding the urgent need to invest in a public health
care system which puts human beings at the centre, the report
reiterates: "Considering what the pandemic has taught us, there is no
more excuse for
delays in decisions that would enable action to uphold the rights of
people living in CHSLDs."
To its credit, the Quebec
ombudsperson's progress report puts the
human factor at the heart of the health care system. It is a timely
reminder of the tragedy families went through during the first wave,
and it keeps alive the discussion which was initiated at that time and
which touched upon all aspects of the problems faced by seniors in
general. It
is another voice which, with that of the workers and their
organizations, stresses the need to immediately improve the working
conditions and wages of workers involved at all levels in health care
as a necessary, essential step in humanizing the social environment and
defending the rights and dignity of all.
With this issue, Workers'
Forum
ceases publication for 2020.
The editorial and technical staff wish you all a safe
holiday and all the
best in the New Year. We thank you
for your support in 2020 and encourage all our readers to join
us in
increasing the readership of Workers'
Forum in 2021 as well as helping fund this important
work.
Workers' Centre of CPC(M-L)
(To
access articles individually click on the black headline.)
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