During their unsuccessful push for unionization last fall, workers at an Amazon warehouse in Rensselaer County sought higher pay and safer working conditions. Months later, the Schodack facility is facing fines as part of a federal investigation.
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued citations at three Amazon warehouses for failing to keep workers safe this month. The citations, part of an investigation with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District, follow similar actions against three other Amazon facilities in January.
OSHA Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health Doug Parker detailed findings in a call with reporters…
“Our investigations determined warehouse workers are required to perform tasks at a fast pace including manually lifting items from trailers, removing packages from a conveyor and stacking them floor to ceiling, and other tasks that require workers to work in awkward positions that make them prone to injury,” said Parker.
OSHA is proposing nearly $47,000 in penalties for the violations at the Schodack site and two others in Florida and Idaho. Amazon is appealing the decision.
WAMC spoke with two employees who were on the organizing committee seeking to unionize the Rensselaer County site, which employs around 900 people.
Tia Leanza, age 61, has been working at Amazon for the last year-and-a-half. She says labor in the warehouse can be painful.
“By the fourth day, my feet are killing me. My legs hurt, my hands hurt. And yes, you definitely feel the wear and tear as the days go on, as your workweek goes on,” said Leanza.
Workplace safety was a key demand during the union drive that failed by a two-to-one margin.
18-year-old Amazon worker Sarah Chowdhury, on the job for about six months, recalled an incident where it took hours to address a spill.
“While in training, I had just had this bucket, this large bucket of…concrete sealant that was just spilled everywhere. And it took it took about a couple hours just to get a hold of the safety team,” said Chowdhury.
During the union campaign, workers complained of injuriesfrom boxes hanging off shelves.
Amazon says it has made “hundreds of changes” based on employee feedback.
In a statement to WAMC this week, Amazon said it’s cooperating with the federal government in its investigation and takes the health and safety of employees “very seriously. ”
Spokesperson Kelly Nantel said in part the retailer doesn’t “believe the government’s allegations reflect the reality of safety” at its sites and that the company reduced injury rates in the U.S. “nearly 15% between 2019 and 2021.”
OSHA’s DART rate provides an index of recordable workplace injuries. According to OSHA, Amazon’s national injury rate is 9 per 100 worker, compared with the national average at 4.7.
The DART rate for Amazon’s Rensselaer County fulfillment center is 19.7.
Amazon detailed several safety improvements to WAMC, including height-adjustable tables to reduce the need for bending and reaching. Some ladders and conveyor belts have been redesigned, too, as just some examples.
Chowdhury said she’s noticed some repairs – such as fixing the brakes on so-called u-boats used to move items around. But she hasn’t seen a significant improvement in safety since the union push.
“I would say it was no improvement, because the only improvements to safety that I've really seen were routine maintenance,” said Chowdhury.
On pay, Amazon did provide a raise in 2022. But Leanza says workers in Schodack are still making less than those at other warehouses in the area.
“Amazon thought they were giving us this wonderful, great raise of $1 an hour in during the union campaign, mind you, that that, oh, we're Oh, yay, we're giving you a pay raise? It's like, you should have been paying us $23 to begin with, because that's what most warehouse workers are making in this area? Not $16,” said Leanza.
Amazon says it does review wages regularly and plans to do so again this year.
But a lasting impact of the failed union push, which garnered national attention, is an effect on workplace culture. Months later, Leanza and Chowdhury described lingering tension between union supporters and opponents.
Leanza does not expect ALB1 workers to consider unionizing again soon.
“So it is a diverse crew of people, it's just, I feel the influence of, of the union busters. And Amazon itself was very negative and very divisive,” said Leanza.
But Chowdhury hasn’t ruled it out, saying she feels “hopeful but realistic.”
“I know it's going to take a lot ...of time and work and training. And, you know, I guess one-on-one conversations, which, with each and every one of our co-workers to really build that collective action, build that sense of community. And so that eventually, we can be, you know, strong enough both in numbers and an actual strength, you know, to demand these changes and to eventually unionize our warehouse."
