8 countries<\/strong>, including the United States, United Kingdom, Italy, France, Germany, Poland, Spain and Australia.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\u201cAmazon cannot look the other way when workers all over the world are saying that going to work is making them feel sick and anxious,\u201d said Christy Hoffman, General Secretary of UNI Global Union. \u201cThis 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.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\r\n
Key findings:<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\tOver\u00a057%<\/strong>\u00a0of responders say Amazon\u2019s monitoring has had a\u00a0negative impact\u00a0in their mental health.\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\r\n\tOver\u00a051%\u00a0<\/strong>say Amazon\u2019s monitoring system has a\u00a0negative impact in their overall health.<\/strong><\/li>\r\n\t59%<\/strong>\u00a0of workers feel that Amazon\u2019s\u00a0monitoring is excessive.<\/strong><\/li>\r\n\t53%<\/strong>\u00a0fear losing their jobs<\/strong>\u00a0due to Amazon\u2019s monitoring technologies,\u00a0<\/li>\r\n\t78%<\/strong>\u00a0of delivery drivers feel that\u00a0Amazon\u2019s targets are either difficult or very difficult<\/strong>\u00a0to achieve.\u00a0<\/li>\r\n\t58%<\/strong>\u00a0said Amazon\u00a0doesn\u2019t clearly explain<\/strong>\u00a0how it uses the data it collects on workers.<\/li>\r\n\t65.7%<\/strong>\u00a0of drivers, in particular, reported a negative impact on their physical health stemming from productivity monitoring.\u00a0<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n <\/p>\r\n
Studying the responses in their entirety, a clear picture emerges across countries and roles. The majority of workers surveyed expressed their belief that Amazon\u2019s monitoring of their work performance is\u00a0excessive\u00a0<\/strong>and\u00a0opaque<\/strong>, that its expectations are\u00a0unrealistic<\/strong>, and that striving to meet these unrealistic expectations has\u00a0negative effects on\u00a0<\/strong>their\u00a0physical health\u00a0<\/strong>and, even more acutely, their\u00a0mental health<\/strong>. \u00a0<\/p>\r\nDespite its use of cutting-edge technologies and state-of-the-art facilities, research has shown that injury rates at Amazon\u2019s 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.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\r\n
Several workers who suffer from conditions such as irritable-bowel syndrome (IBS<\/strong>), which require them to spend more time in the restroom, reported conflicts with the company\u2019s infamous time-off-task (ToT) policies, and a lack of accommodation from the company. \u00a0<\/p>\r\n <\/p>\r\n
\r\n\t\u201cI feel like I\u2019m drowning all day,\u00a0<\/strong>causing me to drive in unsafe ways to meet the unreasonable expectation[s],\u201d\u00a0<\/em>one\u00a0U.S. drive<\/strong>r explained.<\/li>\r\n\t\u201cToday I received a write-up for \u2013 unaccounted for idle time \u2013 due to my IBS.\u00a0I\u2019m constantly harassed\u00a0<\/strong>over missing work or restroom breaks due to my illness.\u201d \u2013\u00a0U.S. warehouse worker<\/strong><\/li>\r\n\t\u201cI 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.\u201d \u2013\u00a0U.S. delivery driver<\/strong><\/li>\r\n\t\u201cI 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\u2019t reach the targets even with doctors\u2019 recommendations to not overstrain my hands. Now I\u2019m off work again as my carpal tunnel returned and extended to nerve entrapment in elbow.\u201d \u2013\u00a0UK warehouse worker\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\r\n\t\u201cAs a rebinner in Outbound Sort Flow,\u00a0my quota was nearly physically impossible to reach.\u00a0<\/strong>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.\u201d \u2013\u00a0U.S. warehouse worker<\/strong><\/li>\r\n\tHaving a lot of back problems that have worsened enormously because of them. I told them about the pain, and\u00a0they never took anything seriously<\/strong>\u2026\u201d \u2013\u00a0French warehouse worker<\/strong><\/li>\r\n\t\u201cI understand that they want to make sure everyone follows break rules, but\u00a0I have a medical issue\u00a0<\/strong>and that requires a little longer bathroom break. Most [of] my break is waiting for a stall in the restroom.\u201d \u2013\u00a0U.S. warehouse worker<\/strong><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cAmazon is raising pay because unions are gaining ground, but a one-time wage bump won\u2019t solve the company\u2019s 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\u2014and much more. That\u2019s why they\u2019ll continue to fight against Amazon’s grueling conditions: punishing<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":11939,"template":"","categories":[163,148],"global-issues":[],"sectors":[11],"cross-sector-groups":[],"workers-rights":[31],"regions":[87,86,85,84],"topics":[],"class_list":["post-24986","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-tag","category-press-release","sectors-commerce","workers-rights-uni-amazon-global-union-alliance","regions-uni-africa","regions-uni-americas","regions-uni-asia-pacific","regions-uni-europa"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
UNI Global Union: \u2018Amazon is raising pay because unions are gaining ground\u2019<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n\t \n