UNI Global Union: ‘Amazon is raising pay because unions are gaining ground’

“Amazon is raising pay because unions are gaining ground, but a one-time wage bump won’t solve the company’s deep-rooted problems. While Amazon constantly pushes for speed, this pay package is, as unions say, too little, too late. Workers have earned this increase—and much more. That’s why they’ll continue to fight against Amazon’s grueling conditions: punishing quotas, constant surveillance and injury-inducing workloads. Workers know only a union can deliver real, lasting protections. And history shows that they won’t stop until they win,” said Christy Hoffman, General Secretary of UNI Global Union.

UNI Global Union represents over 20 million workers from more than 150 countries in the services sector. It works to advance workers’ rights and conditions worldwide through organizing, collective action and collective bargaining.

BACKGROUND:

Amazon’s performance monitoring system makes its workers feel “stressed, pressured, anxious, like a slave, robot and untrusted,” according to an international study of Amazon employees in major markets for UNI Global Union—the first ever of its kind. Over half of Amazon workers surveyed say Amazon’s monitoring systems have had a negative impact on their health (51%) and their mental health (57%). 

The study, commissioned by UNI Global Union and carried out by Jarrow Insights collected 2,000 responses from self-identified Amazon warehouse workers, drivers and office workers from 8 countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, Italy, France, Germany, Poland, Spain and Australia.  

“Amazon cannot look the other way when workers all over the world are saying that going to work is making them feel sick and anxious,” said Christy Hoffman, General Secretary of UNI Global Union. “This corporation has the data and resources to make their workplaces safer, they are just choosing to ignore workers who want a voice to make their jobs better and proven solutions like union health and safety committees.” 

Key findings: 

• Over 57% of responders say Amazon’s monitoring has had a negative impact in their mental health. 
• Over 51% say Amazon’s monitoring system has a negative impact in their overall health.
• 59% of workers feel that Amazon’s monitoring is excessive.
• 53% fear losing their jobs due to Amazon’s monitoring technologies, 
• 78% of delivery drivers feel that Amazon’s targets are either difficult or very difficult to achieve. 
• 58% said Amazon doesn’t clearly explain how it uses the data it collects on workers.
• 65.7% of drivers, in particular, reported a negative impact on their physical health stemming from productivity monitoring. 

Studying the responses in their entirety, a clear picture emerges across countries and roles. The majority of workers surveyed expressed their belief that Amazon’s monitoring of their work performance is excessive and opaque, that its expectations are unrealistic, and that striving to meet these unrealistic expectations has negative effects on their physical health and, even more acutely, their mental health.  

Despite its use of cutting-edge technologies and state-of-the-art facilities, research has shown that injury rates at Amazon’s warehouses are significantly higher than industry averages. The results of the survey shed light on this apparent contradiction. Worker testimony indicates that it is often precisely this cutting-edge technology that pushes workers to work harder and faster, at the expense of both their physical and mental health.  

Several workers who suffer from conditions such as irritable-bowel syndrome (IBS), which require them to spend more time in the restroom, reported conflicts with the company’s infamous time-off-task (ToT) policies, and a lack of accommodation from the company.  

• “I feel like I’m drowning all day, causing me to drive in unsafe ways to meet the unreasonable expectation[s],” one U.S. driver explained.
• “Today I received a write-up for – unaccounted for idle time – due to my IBS. I’m constantly harassed over missing work or restroom breaks due to my illness.” – U.S. warehouse worker
• “I got an infraction because I was having an asthma attack on the highway and needed to reach into my bag to grab my inhaler. It logged it as distracted driving.” – U.S. delivery driver
• “I had two surgeries on my wrists and after returning to work I was harassed for not reaching my targets, everyday negative feedbacks and I had to explain why I can’t reach the targets even with doctors’ recommendations to not overstrain my hands. Now I’m off work again as my carpal tunnel returned and extended to nerve entrapment in elbow.” – UK warehouse worker 
• “As a rebinner in Outbound Sort Flow, my quota was nearly physically impossible to reach. Rebinding requires fast walking through the entire shift to meet the minimum quota, I developed tendonitis due to suddenly being put on rebin/suddenly fast walking each shift for the entire period. This tendonitis caused me to be unable to show up, which resulted in me being fired for Job Abandonment.” – U.S. warehouse worker
• Having a lot of back problems that have worsened enormously because of them. I told them about the pain, and they never took anything seriously…” – French warehouse worker
• “I understand that they want to make sure everyone follows break rules, but I have a medical issue and that requires a little longer bathroom break. Most [of] my break is waiting for a stall in the restroom.” – U.S. warehouse worker