{"id":1740,"date":"2022-03-17T14:40:35","date_gmt":"2022-03-17T14:40:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2022\/03\/17\/amazon-workers-in-new-york-and-maryland-are-protesting-for-better-wages\/"},"modified":"2022-03-17T14:40:37","modified_gmt":"2022-03-17T14:40:37","slug":"amazon-workers-in-new-york-and-maryland-are-protesting-for-better-wages","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2022\/03\/17\/amazon-workers-in-new-york-and-maryland-are-protesting-for-better-wages\/","title":{"rendered":"Amazon workers in New York and Maryland are protesting for better wages"},"content":{"rendered":"

Source: https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/2022\/3\/16\/22981230\/amazonians-united-warehouse-walkouts-3-raise-breaks<\/a>
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Early Wednesday morning, Amazon workers staged a walkout<\/a> in two states, quitting work and even shutting off a machine to demand a $3 raise. The workers also demanded that Amazon bring back 20-minute breaks \u2014 a \u201cperk\u201d introduced during COVID that the company has since replaced with 15-minute breaks, according to Vice<\/em><\/a>. The actions are part of a wave of labor activism at Amazon as more employees band together to demand better working conditions, compensation, and representation.<\/p>\n

The roughly 60 workers were employees at three different warehouses in New York and Maryland, working the night shifts. The walkout was organized by Amazonians United, a group that includes workers from at least nine warehouses nationwide, according to Vice<\/em><\/a>. In December, AU led a multi-warehouse walkout in Chicago to demand better pay. According to the Amazonians United Chicagoland Twitter account<\/a>, workers received a $2.20 raise the next month. <\/p>\n

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NEW: Amazon promised workers in Chicago full-time roles with a hiring bonus, extra pay for working Thanksgiving, and paid bereavement leave.<\/p>\n

Every promise was broken.<\/p>\n

So these courageous @AUchicagoland<\/a> workers led the first-ever walkouts coordinated across multiple warehouses. pic.twitter.com\/NsMMK0NFn3<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 More Perfect Union (@MorePerfectUS) January 11, 2022<\/a>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

According to Vice<\/em> and a reporter from the Huffington Post<\/em><\/a>, the workers striking this morning in DC make under $17 an hour and work in \u201cmegacycle\u201d shifts \u2014 10 hours of work done between 1AM and noon (with two 15-minute breaks and one 30-minute lunch break, according to a site that compiles data about warehouse shifts<\/a>). <\/p>\n

The raise Amazonians United is fighting for wouldn\u2019t be unprecedented at Amazon. In April 2021, the company announced<\/a> that 500,000 workers would get a pay bump in amounts ranging from $0.50 an hour to $3. These raises came after a union drive at Amazon\u2019s Bessemer facility and during another union campaign at Staten Island.<\/p>\n

Labor organization has been a big deal at Amazon recently. The two union campaigns in Alabama and New York are ongoing \u2014 the Bessemer election initially went in Amazon\u2019s favor, but it\u2019s being redone<\/a> after the National Labor Relations Board decided that the company had interfered with the process<\/a>. There are two separate union votes happening at the Staten Island facilities; one is scheduled to occur on March 25th<\/a>, and election details are currently being decided<\/a> for the second.<\/p>\n

Workers have also protested the load Amazon places on them and the speed it expects them to work at. In 2019, Amazonians United workers protested in Sacramento<\/a> after a worker was fired for using too much unpaid time off during the death of a family member. Workers have also said<\/a> that Amazon is harming them physically and mentally by increasing the rate at which they\u2019re expected to work, measuring humans by efficiency standards set by machines.<\/p>\n