After protest Amazon workers get AC

[Deleted]

After protest, Amazon workers finally get AC






Ross Franklin / AP


Amazon will spend $52 million adding air-conditioning to its network of warehouses.

By Martha C. White

When protesters at Amazon.com's (AMZN) annual meeting blasted the e-commerce giant for subjecting warehouse workers to triple-digit temperatures, company executives were the ones feeling the heat.

CEO Jeff Bezos announced that the company will spend $52 million adding air-conditioning to its network of warehouses, the Seattle Times reported. Amazon was criticized last year after a local newspaper in Pennsylvania reported how workers at its warehouse there had to endure heat indexes of 110 degrees in the summer months — sometimes for as little as $11 an hour.

"During summer heat waves, Amazon arranged to have paramedics parked in ambulances outside" in anticipation of workers succumbing to the blistering-hot conditions, the Morning Call wrote. On one June day alone, 15 workers collapsed from the heat.

The investigative report prompted an inspection by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, after which the company added fans and louvered doors for ventilation, and passed out water and cold snacks on hot days. Workers told the Morning Call the measures didn't do enough to make the extreme heat bearable.

Roughly 150 protesters convened on Amazon's annual meeting, held at the Seattle Museum of Art on Thursday.

Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

[Deleted]

This makes me think about all my amazon purchases, especially in light of reading the articles last year about how poorly they warehouse workers are treated and poorly paid.

[AJL]

"During summer heat waves, Amazon arranged to have paramedics parked in ambulances outside" in anticipation of workers succumbing to the blistering-hot conditions, the Morning Call wrote. On one June day alone, 15 workers collapsed from the heat.

That's insane!

[emisi]

WHAT. They didn't have AC in their warehouses?! I know there's one in VA near me, and it gets HOT in the summer here. So what, it was cheaper to have paramedics outside waiting than put in AC?

Insane.

[ChillyMcFreeze]

Well damn. I feel like I'm keeping Amazon in business with all the ordering I do. Who knew they were abusing their workers? I wonder if this is the case in all or most of their warehouses. The website shows distribution centers in:
Arizona
Delaware
Indiana
Kansas
Kentucky
Nevada
Pennsylvania
South Carolina
Tennessee
Virginia

Every one of those places can be positively miserable in the summer.

[orangeblossom]

I cannot even fathom not having working in the SC plant and not having AC. It is ridiculously hot, like 80 when you wake up and 80 when you go to sleep hot and regularly get 90+ and 100+ days. Amazon should be ashamed of themselves.

[lilmgirl]

I had no idea. That's horrible Now I feel bad for buying so many of their "warehouse deals."

[Deleted]

$11+ an hour even without air conditioning is a good wage in Coffeyville, KS.

Though I obviously approve of them taking care of the workers.

UPS pays less and doesn't have air conditioning either and they are union.

[doctordonna]

I kind of started hating Amazon as a business when I applied for a job and the rejection email I got back was so chock full of typos and grammatical errors I had to wonder if they were only hiring complete idiots.

This is in the corporate office - not in the warehouses.

[emilyj]

May 25, 2012 15:46:18 GMT -5 @septimus said:

"During summer heat waves, Amazon arranged to have paramedics parked in ambulances outside" in anticipation of workers succumbing to the blistering-hot conditions, the Morning Call wrote. On one June day alone, 15 workers collapsed from the heat.

This is just...no. No. How can you do this, think it's a good idea, and think no one is going to complain about it? Wow.

[Deleted]

May 25, 2012 16:45:51 GMT -5 emilyj said:

May 25, 2012 15:46:18 GMT -5 @septimus said:

"During summer heat waves, Amazon arranged to have paramedics parked in ambulances outside" in anticipation of workers succumbing to the blistering-hot conditions, the Morning Call wrote. On one June day alone, 15 workers collapsed from the heat.

This is just...no. No. How can you do this, think it's a good idea, and think no one is going to complain about it? Wow.

I staffed a doc review project in an air conditioned factory in Alabama last fall and it was damn hot, even with AC

[ladybrettashley]

The company I work for has factories all around the U.S. without AC. It gets hot....and there are very detailed heat stress procedures to deal with people passing out. They are unionized, however, and make a lot more than $11/hr.

Of course everyone would love to have AC, but people understand that it would cost a lot more than $52 million to install and run AC at our company. It's just something you have to get used to and learn how to take care of your body while doing physical work in the heat.

[meshaliuknits]

Thank god that we manufacture product that has to be strictly climate controlled.

[LoveTrains]

For those who aren't familiar with the brutal conditions in these warehouses, here is a great story.

www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/02/mac-mcclelland-free-online-shipping-warehouses-labor?page=4

[statlerwaldorf]

Is it normal to have AC in warehouses? DH worked in a warehouse and they didn't have AC. I don't think any of the factories he has worked at had AC either. It was miserable for him especially as a welder. Before he started in the auto industry, he worked for a steel mill and they didn't have heat or AC.

[welder'swife]

When we were first married, DH was a welder at a plant that made tanks and hummers for the military. They did not have AC either. Luckily, DH was on third shift so the heat wasn't too bad.

[laurenpetro]

we don't have AC in out warehouse. we have a half dozen fans, keep it stocked with a cold water cooler and we have all the freezie pops you can suck down, but no AC.

[cotner]

$52 mil to retrofit 10 warehouses with AC? They probably will have an AC breakroom and offices, I don't see that covering the actual warehouse spaces. Though I could never hack it, that is part of warehouse and outside labor jobs. A good company works with you in extreme weather. Extra water, breaks, etc.

[Deleted]

I love how hot (pun intended) everyone is over this. Most warehouse jobs do not have AC.

It's not right, it's not okay but you're gonna have to do more than stop shopping at Amazon to get this taken care of.

Poor H worked in a warehouse with no ac. It sucked ballllls!

[emmybean]

MEH.

It's a fucking warehouse for shit's sake.

[Deleted]

I worked on a farm in college. Once it got over a certain temperature we couldn't work in the shed anymore because it violated "osha rules". I can't imagine anyone working in an unairconditioned warehouse in TN without violating "osha rules"

[blindyswife]

Was it cheaper to pay the paramedics to be on call in the parking lot than to just put some AC in the building?

They'd have to allow me to work in my underwear to deal with 110 degree heat.

[pantsparty]

WTF! I feel terrible. We get a package from Amazon at least every other day.

ETA: I used to work in commercial real estate and it was extremely rare to have AC in a warehouse. With the high ceilings, it is obscenely expensive - typically only office functions with a 10' ceiling have AC.

Still, it sucks.

[pescalita]

May 25, 2012 22:11:15 GMT -5 pantsparty said:

ETA: I used to work in commercial real estate and it was extremely rare to have AC in a warehouse. With the high ceilings, it is obscenely expensive - typically only office functions with a 10' ceiling have AC.

Still, it sucks.

This. And I hate to get all conservative about it, but if it costs them a crapton of money, it's going to either raise prices or lose jobs. Probably both.

Having experience with Amazon as a vendor, I have to say I find them a damn ethical customer compared to just about every other retailer, and especially Walmart.

[Maggie]

May 25, 2012 21:13:28 GMT -5 @septimus said:

I worked on a farm in college. Once it got over a certain temperature we couldn't work in the shed anymore because it violated "osha rules". I can't imagine anyone working in an unairconditioned warehouse in TN without violating "osha rules"

Different country but the rules here have nothing to do with the temp, but what must be provided if it gets above a certain temp for so many hours (access to water being the main one), I've worked in many places where there has been no aircon, do none of your workplaces have a picture of what colour your pee should be?

[pamela]

We have non-climate controlled warehouses and obviously the building that houses our turbine and steam system isn't air conditioned. Workers are just provided easy access to fluid (water or koolaid to encourage drinking it) and stay times are limited when it's really bad. We actually only have a small room and the offices in the warehouses that has a/c where we store electronics and other temp sensitive things.

[sophie1229]

May 27, 2012 1:08:54 GMT -5 @88mangoes said:

This is not surprising or uncommon. OSHA requires extra breaks be made available, but they can't require lowered production requirements. I can vouch for multiple production sites in the states you listed, and none have AC unless it is required for product quality.
In many areas of the country, $11/hr is competitive if benefits are offered.

This. None of the automotive plants I've been in have AC.

All this will do will raise prices and cut jobs. It's hot, I get it. But that's the job. Not unusual.

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