Amazon workers walked out over pay, safety concerns at major California air hub

Amazon staff on the firm’s largest air hub in California walked off the job earlier this week to demand greater pay and security enhancements.

The work stoppage on Monday was coordinated by a gaggle of workers on the San Bernardino facility who’re organizing beneath the moniker Inland Empire Amazon Employees United. The ability, often known as KSBD, is without doubt one of the firm’s sprawling air cargo hubs the place Amazon-branded planes transport packages to warehouses throughout the nation.

Greater than 150 staff participated within the walkout, The Washington Submit reported, citing figures from organizers. Amazon countered that about 74 staff walked off the job out of the ability’s 1,500 workers.

The Inland Empire Amazon Employees United is looking for Amazon to hike the bottom pay charge to $22 an hour, up from $17 an hour.

Greater than 900 workers have signed a petition demanding pay raises, in line with the Warehouse Employee Useful resource Middle, a nonprofit that advocates for staff within the Inland Empire, a area situated east of Los Angeles.

Amazon spokesperson Paul Flaningan mentioned full-time workers on the facility can earn as much as $19.25 an hour, relying on their shift.

The group additionally raised issues about “suffocating” warmth. There have been 24 days final month the place temperatures reached 95 levels or hotter on the San Bernardino airport, the group mentioned. Employees have beforehand spoken to managers on the facility in regards to the excessive temperatures, which resulted in them creating extra relaxation areas.

The best recorded temperature within the facility is 77 levels, Flaningan mentioned. He added that the corporate respects its workers’ proper to voice their opinions.

“Whereas we’re at all times listening and methods to enhance, we stay happy with the aggressive pay, complete advantages, and fascinating, secure work expertise we offer our groups within the area,” Flaningan mentioned.

The Inland Empire has been a significant focus of growth for Amazon and different e-commerce firms. Warehouses and supply hubs have quickly sprung up in recent times, elevating issues about air pollution and different environmental harms.

Amazon is the biggest non-public sector employer within the area, the Inland Empire Amazon Employees United said in a statement.

The walkout comes as Amazon has confronted a spike in organizing exercise throughout its warehouse and supply workforce. An Amazon warehouse on Staten Island voted within the firm’s first U.S. union, whereas the outcomes of an election at an Alabama facility stay too near name. Employees additionally held protests to spotlight security issues on the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic.

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