Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN-05) joined Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) in accusing the Trump administration of failing to “hold Amazon accountable for endemic abuses at its warehouses.”
In a letter to Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor Loren Sweatt, Omar and Sanders demand “detailed information” from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regarding injury reports at Amazon facilities over the last three years.
“Working conditions in the United States of America should be the best and safest in the world. Unfortunately, that is not the case at Amazon. News reports published since July highlight continued egregious safety lapses at Amazon facilities. In fact, from Amazon’s own injury records, the company’s rate of serious injuries is more than double the national average at warehouses nationwide,” the two progressives write in their letter.
Omar and Sanders previously called on OSHA to launch a “thorough and comprehensive” investigation into the workplace conditions at all Amazon warehouses.” A press release from their offices suggests that “OSHA’s inaction reflects a deliberate shift by the Trump administration toward weaker workplace protections.”
According to the two lawmakers, OSHA has not committed to conducting any new investigations while its “own data” reveals a decline in the number of inspectors and workplace inspections.
The working conditions of Amazon’s Shakopee fulfillment center have been the subject of numerous media reports, as The Minnesota Sun reported. In one case, Omar joined a group of employees for a walk out in protest of the company’s unfair work requirements.
Omar and Sanders conclude their letter by demanding injury reports from OSHA for “all Amazon facilities,” accusing the agency of demonstrating a “lack of attention to this very serious matter.”
“The holiday shopping season is the most dangerous time of the year for Amazon warehouse workers,” Sanders wrote on Twitter. “They suffer twice the injuries as the rest of the industry. Ilhan and I demand that the Department of Labor stop this abuse.”
The holiday shopping season is the most dangerous time of the year for Amazon warehouse workers. They suffer twice the injuries as the rest of the industry.@Ilhan and I demand that the Department of Labor stop this abuse. https://t.co/kacXQNIBGf
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) December 21, 2019
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Anthony Gockowski is managing editor of Battleground State News, The Ohio Star, and The Minnesota Sun. Follow Anthony on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
I have always heard that the protests at the Shakopee Amazon was due to Muslim workers demanding prayer breaks during their work shifts. This is what Ilhan Omar joined in on, not injured workers there.
What have I missed?