Uh, Maybe We Don't Want Amazon Here

Workers said they were forced to endure brutal heat inside the sprawling warehouse and were pushed to work at a pace many could not sustain. Employees were frequently reprimanded regarding their productivity and threatened with termination, workers said. The consequences of not meeting work expectations were regularly on display, as employees lost their jobs and got escorted out of the warehouse. Such sights encouraged some workers to conceal pain and push through injury lest they get fired as well, workers said.

During summer heat waves, Amazon arranged to have paramedics parked in ambulances outside, ready to treat any workers who dehydrated or suffered other forms of heat stress. Those who couldn't quickly cool off and return to work were sent home or taken out in stretchers and wheelchairs and transported to area hospitals. And new applicants were ready to begin work at any time.

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Temporary employees interviewed said few people in their working groups actually made it to a permanent Amazon position. Instead, they said they were pushed harder and harder to work faster and faster until they were terminated, they quit or they got injured. Those interviewed say turnover at the warehouse is high and many hires don't last more than a few months.

The supply of temporary workers keeps Amazon's warehouse fully staffed without the expense of a permanent workforce that expects raises and good benefits. Using temporary employees in general also helps reduce the prospect that employees will organize a union that pushes for better treatment because the employees are in constant flux, labor experts say. And Amazon limits its liability for workers' compensation and unemployment insurance because most of the workers don't work for Amazon, they work for the temp agency.

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On June 2, a warehouse employee contacted OSHA to report the heat index hit 102 degrees in the warehouse and 15 workers collapsed. The employee also complained that workers who had to go home due to heat symptoms received disciplinary points.

"The 102-degree heat index only applied to the first floor and not in regards to the second or third floor ... I just believe that it is gross negligence for a company of this capacity to abuse and enslave their workers," the complaint states.

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Mark Zweifel, 22, of Coopersburg worked in the warehouse as a permanent Amazon employee for more than a year until he was fired Sept. 9, he said. His primary job was on the receiving line, unloading inventory from boxes, scanning bar codes and loading products into totes so stowers could store them in bins.

He had previous shipping industry experience and liked the job for the first six months, but then he said the productivity rate abruptly doubled one day from 250 units per hour for smaller items to 500 units per hour.

"One day we came into work and they said, 'Your rate is now 500 units per hour. Get to it.' " Zweifel said. "No warning or nothing. I'm a young guy. I could keep up with it. But I saw the older people working there, they were getting written up a lot. I didn't think it was fair."

Employees were threatened with termination on a daily basis during meetings at the beginning of their shifts, Zweifel said. Amazon managers used tough talk to motivate workers, he said.

"They would say, 'If you don't make rate, we will walk you out of the building and give your job to somebody who wants a job,' " Zweifel said. "I saw a 65-year-old guy get fired for not making stow rate. I saw him get talked to and then a manager walked him out of the building."