The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has reached a settlement with Amazon over allegations of unsafe work conditions at 10 of the tech giant’s facilities. Under the terms of the settlement, Amazon must pay a $145,000 penalty and implement “company-wide ergonomic measures” to reduce the risk of worker injury. OSHA also plans to continue inspecting the facility for the next two years. On the government side of the agreement, OSHA will rescind nine of the 10 ergonomics citations against the company.
Ergonomic injuries are also known as musculoskeletal disorders. These may include sprains and strains experienced at work.
A Labor Department official told ABC News that the settlement is “the largest of its kind” and “resolves all outstanding ergonomics litigation” against Amazon. However, this does not affect a separate investigation currently underway by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York into Amazon’s alleged cover-up of workplace injuries. Amazon denies these charges.
Amazon workers were also in the news this week as strikes began at multiple facilities in California, Georgia, Illinois, and New York. Members of the Teamsters union organized the effort, and several union branches voted yesterday to take action against the company. The Teamsters had asked Amazon to negotiate working conditions, wages and benefits, and had given the company until Dec. 15 to agree to a date for contract negotiations. Local Hell Gate journalists captured footage from the first day of the strike in Queens, New York, which shows: Barricades have reportedly been set up to allow contractors access to Amazon distribution centers, but peaceful picket lines have been broken up by local police.
“If your package gets delayed during the holidays, you can blame Amazon’s insatiable greed,” Teamsters General Chairman Sean M. O’Brien said in a statement from the Teamsters. By our members. they ignored it. ”