SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
A woman works at an Amazon fulfillment center in Bretigny-sur-Orge, France on October 22, 2019. (Photo: Philippe Lopez/AFP via Getty Images)
Labor Advocates Rebuke Amazon for Latest 'Smoke and Mirrors' on Worker Safety
"After spending years pushing warehouse workers to work beyond their physical limits, Amazon's announcement today appears to be just another public relations stunt."
Jun 10, 2021
Labor advocates on Thursday responded with disdain and derision to news that Amazon and the National Safety Council are partnering to find "innovative solutions" to prevent the workplace injuries that disproportionately plague the retail giant's warehouse employees.
"The root cause of this issue is Amazon's business model of expecting workers to perform like robots at an unbearable and often unattainable pace of work." --Stuart Appelbaum, RWDSU
Amazon said it plans to contribute $12 million to National Safety Council (NSC) research on musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), which the NSC says are the most common U.S. workplace injuries. Amazon's contribution will also help fund new technology to reduce MSDs.
Thursday's announcement follows a report published earlier this month by the Strategic Organizing Center (SOC) that accused Amazon of having an "abysmal health and safety record" as a result of its obsession with production speed. The report revealed there were 5.9 serious injuries per 100 Amazon workers last year--a rate that's about 80% higher than those of other warehousing industry employers.
In addition to rampant injuries, numerous worker deaths at Amazon warehouses in recent years have repeatedly landed the company in the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health's annual "Dirty Dozen" reports of the worst corporate workplace safety violators. The company has also come under fire and faces a New York state lawsuit for failing to adequately protect warehouse workers during the Covid-19 pandemic.
"We know we have work to do," Amazon vice president of worldwide workplace health and safety Heather MacDougall said during a Wednesday news conference in Seattle.
Numerous critics of Amazon's labor practices dismissed the NSC partnership as a "public relations stunt." Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) called it "more smoke and mirrors from Amazon."
"This isn't a pledge--it's a PR stunt," she tweeted.
\u201cMore smoke and mirrors from @amazon. Workers know that to decrease warehouse injuries, Amazon must eliminate the "productivity" technology tracking their every move. Amazon won't even consider changing this practice. This isn't a pledge \u2013 it's a PR stunt. https://t.co/Jg4Q8fm7HE\u201d— Elizabeth Warren (@Elizabeth Warren) 1623355657
Stuart Appelbaum, president of the Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union (RWDSU), said in a statement that, "After spending years pushing warehouse workers to work beyond their physical limits, Amazon's announcement today appears to be just another public relations stunt. Instead, Amazon can and must be doing more to protect its workers."
"This partnership will be meaningless unless Amazon acknowledges and is transparent about workers' injuries and illness due to ergonomic issues at their facilities--something they have consistently failed to do," he added. "The root cause of this issue is Amazon's business model of expecting workers to perform like robots at an unbearable and often unattainable pace of work."
\u201cToday, Amazon and the National Safety Council announced a partnership to research workplace injuries. @sappelbaum issued the following statement: https://t.co/DUdyS3Dn9m \n\n\u201cWorkers need real protection and not just more smoke and mirrors.\u201d\u201d— RWDSU (@RWDSU) 1623341880
In a statement, SOC alleged that "Amazon executives have known about the company's serious injury problem for years, and have done nothing to fix it, allowing tens of thousands of additional workers to be injured. Now, after getting some bad press last week, the company wants us to believe that it has seen the light and will change its ways."
"No one should trust a corporation with such a terrible track record to reform itself," SOC added.
\u201cStatement from SOC Health & Safety Director Eric Frumin on Amazon's Workplace-Safety Pledge. #ProtectAmazonWorkers\u201d— Strategic Organizing Center (@Strategic Organizing Center) 1623335607
The Switzerland-based UNI Global Union tweeted that "all the wellness pods in the world won't change the fact that Amazon puts profits over health," a reference to the AmaZen "mindful practice rooms" the company is introducing in warehouses so that stressed-out workers to "recharge and re-energize."
UNI Global Union highlighted an article published in the Seattle Times Thursday that reported Amazon will not relax productivity targets for warehouse workers despite state regulators recently finding a "direct connection" between the rate of on-the-job injuries and the company's requirement that employees "maintain a very high pace of work."
An Unconstitutional Rampage
Trump and Musk are on an unconstitutional rampage, aiming for virtually every corner of the federal government. These two right-wing billionaires are targeting nurses, scientists, teachers, daycare providers, judges, veterans, air traffic controllers, and nuclear safety inspectors. No one is safe. The food stamps program, Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are next. It’s an unprecedented disaster and a five-alarm fire, but there will be a reckoning. The people did not vote for this. The American people do not want this dystopian hellscape that hides behind claims of “efficiency.” Still, in reality, it is all a giveaway to corporate interests and the libertarian dreams of far-right oligarchs like Musk. Common Dreams is playing a vital role by reporting day and night on this orgy of corruption and greed, as well as what everyday people can do to organize and fight back. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover issues the corporate media never will, but we can only continue with our readers’ support. |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Labor advocates on Thursday responded with disdain and derision to news that Amazon and the National Safety Council are partnering to find "innovative solutions" to prevent the workplace injuries that disproportionately plague the retail giant's warehouse employees.
"The root cause of this issue is Amazon's business model of expecting workers to perform like robots at an unbearable and often unattainable pace of work." --Stuart Appelbaum, RWDSU
Amazon said it plans to contribute $12 million to National Safety Council (NSC) research on musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), which the NSC says are the most common U.S. workplace injuries. Amazon's contribution will also help fund new technology to reduce MSDs.
Thursday's announcement follows a report published earlier this month by the Strategic Organizing Center (SOC) that accused Amazon of having an "abysmal health and safety record" as a result of its obsession with production speed. The report revealed there were 5.9 serious injuries per 100 Amazon workers last year--a rate that's about 80% higher than those of other warehousing industry employers.
In addition to rampant injuries, numerous worker deaths at Amazon warehouses in recent years have repeatedly landed the company in the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health's annual "Dirty Dozen" reports of the worst corporate workplace safety violators. The company has also come under fire and faces a New York state lawsuit for failing to adequately protect warehouse workers during the Covid-19 pandemic.
"We know we have work to do," Amazon vice president of worldwide workplace health and safety Heather MacDougall said during a Wednesday news conference in Seattle.
Numerous critics of Amazon's labor practices dismissed the NSC partnership as a "public relations stunt." Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) called it "more smoke and mirrors from Amazon."
"This isn't a pledge--it's a PR stunt," she tweeted.
\u201cMore smoke and mirrors from @amazon. Workers know that to decrease warehouse injuries, Amazon must eliminate the "productivity" technology tracking their every move. Amazon won't even consider changing this practice. This isn't a pledge \u2013 it's a PR stunt. https://t.co/Jg4Q8fm7HE\u201d— Elizabeth Warren (@Elizabeth Warren) 1623355657
Stuart Appelbaum, president of the Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union (RWDSU), said in a statement that, "After spending years pushing warehouse workers to work beyond their physical limits, Amazon's announcement today appears to be just another public relations stunt. Instead, Amazon can and must be doing more to protect its workers."
"This partnership will be meaningless unless Amazon acknowledges and is transparent about workers' injuries and illness due to ergonomic issues at their facilities--something they have consistently failed to do," he added. "The root cause of this issue is Amazon's business model of expecting workers to perform like robots at an unbearable and often unattainable pace of work."
\u201cToday, Amazon and the National Safety Council announced a partnership to research workplace injuries. @sappelbaum issued the following statement: https://t.co/DUdyS3Dn9m \n\n\u201cWorkers need real protection and not just more smoke and mirrors.\u201d\u201d— RWDSU (@RWDSU) 1623341880
In a statement, SOC alleged that "Amazon executives have known about the company's serious injury problem for years, and have done nothing to fix it, allowing tens of thousands of additional workers to be injured. Now, after getting some bad press last week, the company wants us to believe that it has seen the light and will change its ways."
"No one should trust a corporation with such a terrible track record to reform itself," SOC added.
\u201cStatement from SOC Health & Safety Director Eric Frumin on Amazon's Workplace-Safety Pledge. #ProtectAmazonWorkers\u201d— Strategic Organizing Center (@Strategic Organizing Center) 1623335607
The Switzerland-based UNI Global Union tweeted that "all the wellness pods in the world won't change the fact that Amazon puts profits over health," a reference to the AmaZen "mindful practice rooms" the company is introducing in warehouses so that stressed-out workers to "recharge and re-energize."
UNI Global Union highlighted an article published in the Seattle Times Thursday that reported Amazon will not relax productivity targets for warehouse workers despite state regulators recently finding a "direct connection" between the rate of on-the-job injuries and the company's requirement that employees "maintain a very high pace of work."
Labor advocates on Thursday responded with disdain and derision to news that Amazon and the National Safety Council are partnering to find "innovative solutions" to prevent the workplace injuries that disproportionately plague the retail giant's warehouse employees.
"The root cause of this issue is Amazon's business model of expecting workers to perform like robots at an unbearable and often unattainable pace of work." --Stuart Appelbaum, RWDSU
Amazon said it plans to contribute $12 million to National Safety Council (NSC) research on musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), which the NSC says are the most common U.S. workplace injuries. Amazon's contribution will also help fund new technology to reduce MSDs.
Thursday's announcement follows a report published earlier this month by the Strategic Organizing Center (SOC) that accused Amazon of having an "abysmal health and safety record" as a result of its obsession with production speed. The report revealed there were 5.9 serious injuries per 100 Amazon workers last year--a rate that's about 80% higher than those of other warehousing industry employers.
In addition to rampant injuries, numerous worker deaths at Amazon warehouses in recent years have repeatedly landed the company in the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health's annual "Dirty Dozen" reports of the worst corporate workplace safety violators. The company has also come under fire and faces a New York state lawsuit for failing to adequately protect warehouse workers during the Covid-19 pandemic.
"We know we have work to do," Amazon vice president of worldwide workplace health and safety Heather MacDougall said during a Wednesday news conference in Seattle.
Numerous critics of Amazon's labor practices dismissed the NSC partnership as a "public relations stunt." Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) called it "more smoke and mirrors from Amazon."
"This isn't a pledge--it's a PR stunt," she tweeted.
\u201cMore smoke and mirrors from @amazon. Workers know that to decrease warehouse injuries, Amazon must eliminate the "productivity" technology tracking their every move. Amazon won't even consider changing this practice. This isn't a pledge \u2013 it's a PR stunt. https://t.co/Jg4Q8fm7HE\u201d— Elizabeth Warren (@Elizabeth Warren) 1623355657
Stuart Appelbaum, president of the Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union (RWDSU), said in a statement that, "After spending years pushing warehouse workers to work beyond their physical limits, Amazon's announcement today appears to be just another public relations stunt. Instead, Amazon can and must be doing more to protect its workers."
"This partnership will be meaningless unless Amazon acknowledges and is transparent about workers' injuries and illness due to ergonomic issues at their facilities--something they have consistently failed to do," he added. "The root cause of this issue is Amazon's business model of expecting workers to perform like robots at an unbearable and often unattainable pace of work."
\u201cToday, Amazon and the National Safety Council announced a partnership to research workplace injuries. @sappelbaum issued the following statement: https://t.co/DUdyS3Dn9m \n\n\u201cWorkers need real protection and not just more smoke and mirrors.\u201d\u201d— RWDSU (@RWDSU) 1623341880
In a statement, SOC alleged that "Amazon executives have known about the company's serious injury problem for years, and have done nothing to fix it, allowing tens of thousands of additional workers to be injured. Now, after getting some bad press last week, the company wants us to believe that it has seen the light and will change its ways."
"No one should trust a corporation with such a terrible track record to reform itself," SOC added.
\u201cStatement from SOC Health & Safety Director Eric Frumin on Amazon's Workplace-Safety Pledge. #ProtectAmazonWorkers\u201d— Strategic Organizing Center (@Strategic Organizing Center) 1623335607
The Switzerland-based UNI Global Union tweeted that "all the wellness pods in the world won't change the fact that Amazon puts profits over health," a reference to the AmaZen "mindful practice rooms" the company is introducing in warehouses so that stressed-out workers to "recharge and re-energize."
UNI Global Union highlighted an article published in the Seattle Times Thursday that reported Amazon will not relax productivity targets for warehouse workers despite state regulators recently finding a "direct connection" between the rate of on-the-job injuries and the company's requirement that employees "maintain a very high pace of work."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.
LATEST NEWS
China Retaliates Against Trump 'Bullying' With 34% Tariffs on All US Goods
"Trade and tariff wars have no winners," said China's foreign ministry. "We urge the U.S. to stop doing the wrong thing."
Apr 04, 2025
The Chinese government on Friday responded to U.S. President Donald Trump's sweeping new tariffs with 34% import duties on all American goods beginning next week, intensifying global blowback against the White House and accelerating a worldwide financial market tailspin.
China's tariffs on U.S. imports, which match the tariffs the Trump administration moved this week to impose on Chinese goods, are set to take effect on April 10. Trump's 34% tariffs on Chinese imports come on top of the 20% tariffs the U.S. president imposed earlier this year.
"The U.S. approach does not conform to international trade rules, seriously damages China's legitimate rights and interests, and is a typical unilateral bullying practice," China's Ministry of Finance said in a Friday statement.
Additionally, China's Commerce Ministry announced immediate export restrictions on rare earth materials and "added 16 entities from the U.S., including High Point Aerotechnologies and Universal Logistics Holdings Inc., to its export control list," according to the state-run China Daily.
"Under the new rule," the outlet reported, "Chinese companies are prohibited from exporting dual-use items to these 16 U.S. entities. Any ongoing related export activities should be immediately halted, said the Ministry of Commerce."
Retaliatory tariffs from the world's second-largest economy mark the latest step in a global trade war launched by the Trump White House, which—despite warnings of disastrous impacts for working-class U.S. households and the broader economy—plowed ahead this week with a 10% universal tariff on imports and larger tariffs on a number of trading partners, including China.
Following Trump's official tariff announcement, Beijing condemned the duties as "unacceptable" and vowed to "take measures as necessary to firmly defend [China's] legitimate interests."
"Trade and tariff wars have no winners. Protectionism leads nowhere," said the spokesperson for China's foreign ministry on Thursday. "We urge the U.S. to stop doing the wrong thing, and resolve trade differences with China and other countries through consultation with equality, respect, and mutual benefit."
Other nations hit by Trump's tariffs are expected to respond in the coming days.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told reporters Thursday that the E.U. was "already finalizing the first package of countermeasures in response to tariffs on steel, and we are now preparing for further countermeasures to protect our interests and our businesses if negotiations fail."
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney vowed that "we are going to fight these tariffs with countermeasures."
"In a crisis, it's important to come together and it's essential to act with purpose and with force," Carney added. "And that's what we will do."
New Projected Cost of Trump-GOP Tax Cuts for the Rich: 'Staggering' $7 Trillion
"What Republicans are trying to jam through Congress right now is a level of economic recklessness we’ve never seen before," said a group of Democratic lawmakers.
Apr 04, 2025
A new analysis indicates Republicans' plan to extend soon-to-expire provisions of their party's 2017 tax law, as well as their push to tack on additional tax breaks largely benefitting the rich and big corporations, would cost $7 trillion over the next decade, a figure that a group of congressional Democrats called "staggering."
The analysis from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), published on Thursday, updates previous estimates that suggested the GOP effort to extend expiring provisions of the 2017 law would cost $4.6 trillion over a 10-year period. The new assessment shows that extending the law's temporary provisions—which disproportionately favored the wealthy—would cost $5.5 trillion over the next decade.
The projected cost of the GOP agenda balloons to $7 trillion after adding Senate Republicans' call for $1.5 trillion in additional tax cuts in the budget resolution they advanced in a party-line vote on Thursday. The GOP has come under fire for using an accounting trick to claim their proposed tax cuts would have no budgetary impact.
"The Republican handouts to billionaires and corporations will come at a staggering cost, and it's unconscionable that their plan to pay for those handouts includes kicking millions of Americans off their health insurance, hiking the cost of living with tariffs, and driving up child hunger," Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Rep. Richard Neal (D-Mass.), and Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.) said in a joint statement issued in response to the CBO figures.
"Even after making painful cuts that will inflict hardship on typical American families, Republicans will still risk sending us into a catastrophic debt spiral that does permanent harm to our economy," the Democrats added. "What Republicans are trying to jam through Congress right now is a level of economic recklessness we've never seen before."
The CBO's updated cost analysis came as President Donald Trump plowed ahead with what's been characterized as the biggest tax hike in U.S. history, one that will hit working-class Americans in the form of price increases on household staples and other goods.
Trump administration officials, not known for providing reliable numbers, have claimed the president's sweeping new tariffs could produce roughly $6 trillion in federal revenue over the next decade. The Trump tariffs have sent financial markets into a tailspin, heightened recession fears, and prompted swift retaliation from targeted nations, including China.
In an appearance on MSNBC on Thursday, Boyle—the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee—said Trump's tariffs represent "the single largest tax increase in American history."
"It's a tax that everyone will pay in this country, based on the goods that they buy," said Boyle. "However, it's also a tax that is highly regressive—the poorest amongst us will end up paying a higher percentage of their income."
Senate GOP Fuels Privatization Fears by Confirming 'Quack Grifter' Dr. Oz
The new Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrator joins "a team of snake oil salesmen and anti-science flunkies that have already shown disdain for the American people and their health," said one critic.
Apr 03, 2025
Echoing a party-line vote by the U.S. Senate Finance Committee last week, the chamber's Republicans on Thursday confirmed President Donald Trump's nominee to head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, former televison host Dr. Mehmet Oz.
Since Trump nominated Oz—who previously ran as a Republican for a U.S. Senate seat in Pennsylvania—a wide range of critics have argued that the celebrity cardiothoracic surgeon "is profoundly unqualified to lead any part of our healthcare system, let alone an agency as important as CMS," in the words of Robert Weissman, co-president of the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen.
After Thursday's 53-45 vote to confirm Oz, Weissman declared that "Republicans in the Senate continued to just be a rubber stamp for a dangerous agenda that threatens to turn back the clock on healthcare in America."
Weissman warned that "in addition to having significant conflicts of interest, Oz is now poised to help enact the Trump administration's dangerous agenda, which seeks to strip crucial healthcare services through Medicare, Medicaid, and the Affordable Care Act from hundreds of millions of Americans and to use that money to give tax breaks to billionaires."
"As he showed in his confirmation hearing, Oz will also seek to further privatize Medicare, increasing the risk that seniors will receive inferior care and further threatening the long-term health of the Medicare program. We already know that privatized Medicare costs taxpayers nearly $100 billion annually in excess costs," he continued, referring to Medicare Advantage plans.
CMS is part of the Department of Health and Human Services, now led by Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.—who, like Oz, came under fire for his record of dubious claims during the confirmation process. Weissman said that "Dr. Oz is joining a team of snake oil salesmen and anti-science flunkies that have already shown disdain for the American people and their health. This is yet another dark day for healthcare in America under Trump."
In the middle of Trump's tariff disaster, the Senate is voting to confirm quack grifter Dr. Oz to lead the Centers for Medicaid & Medicare Services.
[image or embed]
— Jen Bendery (@jbendery.bsky.social) April 3, 2025 at 12:29 PM
Oz's confirmation came a day after Trump announced globally disruptive tariffs and Senate Republicans unveiled a budget plan that would give the wealthy trillions of dollars in tax cuts at the expense of federal food assistance and healthcare programs.
"While Dr. Oz would rather play coy, this is no hypothetical. Harmful cuts to Medicaid or Medicare are unavoidable in the Trump-Republican budget plan that prioritizes another giant tax break for the president's billionaire and corporate donors," Tony Carrk, executive director of the watchdog group Accountable.US, said ahead of the vote.
"None of Dr. Oz's 'miracle' cures that he's peddled over the years will help seniors when their fundamental health security is ripped away to make the rich richer," Carrk continued. "And while privatizing Medicare may enrich Dr. Oz's family and big insurance friends, it will cost taxpayers far more and leave millions of patients vulnerable to denials of care and higher out-of-pocket costs."
Lee Saunders, president of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), was similarly critical, saying after the vote that "at a time when our population is growing older and the need for access to home care, nursing homes, affordable prescription drugs, and quality medical care has never been greater, Americans deserve better than a snake oil salesman leading the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services."
"Dr. Mehmet Oz has been shilling pseudoscience to line his own pockets. He can't be trusted to defend Medicare and Medicaid from billionaires who want to dismantle and privatize the foundation of affordable healthcare in this country," the union leader added. "AFSCME members—including nurses, home care and childcare providers, social workers and more—will be watching and fighting back against any effort to weaken Medicare and Medicaid. The 147 million seniors, children, Americans with disabilities, and low-income workers who rely on these programs for affordable access to healthcare deserve nothing less."
Most Popular
We cover the issues the corporate media never will.
Please support our journalism.