Amazon Disregarded Internal Warnings on Injuries, Senate Investigation Claims

For years, employee advocates and a few authorities officers have argued that Amazon’s strict manufacturing quotas result in excessive charges of harm for its warehouse workers. And for years, Amazon has rejected the criticism, arguing that it doesn’t use strict quotas, and that its harm charges are falling near or beneath the business common.

On Sunday, the bulk workers of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, which is chaired by Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, printed an investigation that discovered that Amazon itself had documented the hyperlink between its quotas and elevated harm charges.

Internal firm paperwork collected by Mr. Sanders’s investigators present that Amazon well being and security personnel really useful enjoyable enforcement of the manufacturing quotas to decrease harm charges, however that senior executives rejected the suggestions apparently as a result of they apprehensive concerning the impact on the corporate’s efficiency.

The report additionally affirmed the findings of investigations undertaken by a union-backed group exhibiting that harm charges at Amazon had been nearly twice the common for the remainder of the business.

“The shockingly harmful working circumstances at Amazon’s warehouses revealed on this 160-page report are past unacceptable,” Mr. Sanders mentioned in an announcement. “Amazon’s executives repeatedly selected to place earnings forward of the well being and security of its staff by ignoring suggestions that will considerably scale back accidents.”

Kelly Nantel, an Amazon spokeswoman, mentioned the interior research and proposals Mr. Sanders’s report cited had been later discovered by the corporate to be invalid. “Sen. Sanders’ report is unsuitable on the information and weaves collectively out-of-date paperwork and unverifiable anecdotes to create a preconceived narrative,” she mentioned.