Amazon ’s pitiful manipulation of the covid-19 crisis affecting workers at its storage warehouse has made it the objective of a new causa filed by a group of worker at JFK8 , an Amazon facility in Staten Island .
The complaint , filed last weekin the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York , claims that Amazon flunk to abide by with state laws as well as health guidance issue by both the state and Union wellness authorities at its JFK8 facility , allegedly result in injury and demise of some worker and their loved ones . Thecomplaintfurther alleges that despite beat take come after public pressing about the wellness risk face by doer at Amazon ’s warehouse , Amazon botched even those endeavor and created a “ culture of fear ” to keep production humming along at the cost of the wellness and safety of its doer .
“ Although Amazon has sought to create a façade of compliance by , for lesson , providing fulfillment core employee with masks , the company has also trust on purposeful miscommunication with actor , slipshod contact tracing , and the cultivation of work fear it has instill at JFK8 to assure it can keep up productivity while reducing price , even if that means workers come to work sick and can not affiance in right hygiene , sanitizing , or social distancing while at work in club to abide healthy , ” the ailment express .
Photo: (Getty)
The complaint argues that rather than being a minor operation struggling to do the good it can , Amazon is , in fact , one of the richest companies in the world . But far from just failing early on to provide necessary protections to worker who are in effect frontline workers during the coronavirus pandemic , Amazon has allegedly inform worker at JFK8 that they should “ deflect tell others if they become septic and bank on Amazon to perform contract trace . ” This alarming accusation appears to align with previouslyreported frustrationsby workers and lawmakers that the company betray to be transparent about the issue of cases or last of workers during this time .
For its part , Amazon claims that it notifies employees verbally and with song or schoolbook when there is a confirmed case of covid-19 at one of its sites . It also take that employees can share their wellness diagnosis with other workers . In a statement , the company did not remark on the lawsuit or its allegations straightaway but instead comment on the initiatives it ’s put in place at its quickness ( some of thempretty recent , in hypothesis ) .
“ From former March to May 1 , we offered our employees unlimited fourth dimension away from body of work , and since May 1 we have offer leave for those most vulnerable or who need to care for kid or family members , ” an Amazon representative say . “ We also vest $ 4 billion from April to June on COVID - related initiatives , include over $ 800 million in the first half of this year on safe measures like temperature check , masque , baseball mitt , enhance cleaning and sanitization , extended salary and benefit options , examination , and more . This include two week pay farewell for any COVID diagnosing or quarantine , and launching a $ 25 million stock to fend for our partners and contractors . ”
This branding iron - grip on info associate to the spread of the disease at its facilities , the ailment reason , creates a “ finish of workplace fear reinforced by invariant technological supervision ” and gain difficult actor efforts to protect themselves and their kinsfolk . Indeed the very nature of their jobs make exercise safe measures like social distancing quite hard .
For example , Derrick Palmer , a JFK8 worker and one of the plaintiffs key in the suit , was cited in the ailment as make in a Process Guide role that ask “ regular and confining fundamental interaction ” with more than three dozen other workers at the facility . Another plaintiff and JFK8 worker , Barbara Chandler , was cited in the complaint as catching and bringing the computer virus home to her home . Less than a month after and after having displayed covid-19 symptoms , he found him dead in their home .
The ailment say that beyond negligence that jeopardizes the wellness and safety of its actor , Amazon has also targeted employees who have verbalise out about the society ’s lack of meaningful protection for worker in its warehouses — a cadence so shitty even by Amazon ’s unco low standards that it led one of its longtime executives left the society in May , spell abrutal public letterabout the company ’s firing of whistleblowers .
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