The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has reached a settlement with Amazon over alleged hazardous working conditions at ten of the tech giant's facilities. Under the terms of the settlement, Amazon will pay a $145,000 fine and must implement “company-wide ergonomic measures” to reduce the risk of worker injury. OSHA will also continue to inspect facilities over the next two years. On the government side of the agreement, OSHA is conclusion nine out of ten ergonomics charges against the company.
Ergonomic injuries are also known as musculoskeletal disorders. These may include sprains and sprains sustained at work.
A representative of the Ministry of Labor reported this. ABC News that the settlement is “the largest of its kind” and will “resolve all outstanding ergonomics litigation” against Amazon. However, this will not affect a separate investigation into Amazon allegedly covering up workplace injuries currently being conducted by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York. Amazon has denied the allegations.
Amazon employees were also in the news this week when strikes began at several facilities in California, Georgia, Illinois and New York. Teamsters union members organized the action, with several union branches voting in favor take action against the company. The drivers called on Amazon to negotiate working conditions, wages and benefits, asking the company to agree on contract negotiation dates by Dec. 15. Local journalists from Hell's Gate Footage from the first day of strikes in Queens, New York appears to show local police breaking through a peaceful vigil that was reportedly barricades erected to allow contractors to enter and exit Amazon's distribution center.
“If your package is delayed during the holidays, you can blame it on Amazon's insatiable greed,” Teamsters CEO Sean M. O'Brien said in a statement. from the organization. “We have given Amazon a clear deadline to come to the table and do right by our members. They ignored it.”