Strokes, Head Injuries & Heat Exhaustion: Why Amazon Workers In Albany Are Unionizing

Amazon workers in Albany, NY are speaking out about the death trap conditions inside their warehouse. They describe relentless pressure in brutal conditions. The injuries are constant. Strokes. Heat exhaustion. Head trauma. It’s why they’re unionizing with Amazon Labor Union.
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[michaeld]

"Only profits matter, people are more disposable than napkins." - Jeff Bezos

[DavidRichardson]

I have worked all "mainline" stations in an Amazon warehouse - receiver (unloading trucks), picker, stower, packer, slammer, loader (loading trucks) - and they were all horrible. Those two years put my above-average physical fitness to the test. Did I come out stronger? No. Was I injured? Yes. Multiple times? Yes.

How bad did it get for me? I started wearing compression gear - belts, bands, socks - to get through those 12-hr shifts...and I am someone who had been practicing multiple martial arts for nearly 10 years prior to when I started at Amazon (I still practice, because thankfully, none of the injuries were crippling or otherwise permanent).

I got out long before Covid, just before they REALLY began ramping up their abuses. Make no mistake, though. They already were ramping them up by the time I finally chose to leave - they just started getting even more brazen with it by the time I left. Prior to Amazon, I worked a bad job at a small firm, and my five years there crushed my conservative leanings. My two years with Amazon crushed my capitalist leanings.

Unite and Unionize all the way. That yacht Bezos had recently built will be leaving that river, just not in the manner he wanted.

[GamerKru]

This is why I can't stand Jeff Bezos and Amazon.

[happylistener]

Amazon/Jeff Bezos needs to be sued for providing poor employee working conditions. Especially by employees injured on the job.

[rodneynelson]

Corporations don't care. Workers are expendable. Get used to it. Stand up for yourself.

[doctordisheses]

AMAZON DONT CARE I HAD MAJOR SURGURIES ON MY HAND FINGERS AND ELBOW TO GO TO A DIFFERENT DEPARTMENT BUT MY SUPERVISORS DIDNT DO ANYTHING TO HELP ME SO I QUIT BECAUSE I LIFT A HEAVY BOX A SHARP PAIN WENT DOWN MY ARM FROM CAR ACCIDENT WHEN YOU WORK THERE YOU ARE A MACHINE TO GO NO STOP FASTER FASTER GO GO GO THEY NEED A UNION

[keanuxu]

I applied for an Amazon warehouse once. I’m glad they never got back to me

[LeftofTube]

Quotas exceed safe working conditions. Objects falling off shelving😡 Every employee should be calling OSHA everyday on them and filing a complaint.

[jjtiojohn]

thank you guys for telling these stories because somehow the American media refuses to tell them!

[darinsingleton]

The inevitable result of a society which segregates human beings into "The Deserving" & "The Disposable."

And, the sad acknowledgment that our corporately-captured government, run by bought & sold politicians, will do almost nothing to meaningfully solve these abusive practices.
It's people standing up for other people, facing hardships together, which is our strength. Solidarity to all.

[richardlouis]

This isn't just unique or particular to Amazon. Workers in all industries and businesses are called on to do more with less resources and protections.

[soninalphin]

I heard of such stories from a cousin who worked for them once years ago, I imaged this could be a thing & now more than ever I'm grateful that I never chose to apply for Amazon.

[theunidentified]

THIS IS HORRIBLE!!
AMAZON NEEDS SHUT DOWN!!

[Niccoleab]

I had 2 seizures at Amazon, one i the warehouse and one in the ambulance. It was November 30th during peak season last year. The only thing I remember that day was waking up in the ambulance. Amazon could AT LEAST foot the bill for the ambulance but they won't.

[The_Savage_Wombat]

The warehouse in North Haven is barbaric. There are so many injuries and the managers don't even care at the Fulfillment Center. It's so dangerous and there is a constant push to work faster which results in even more injuries.
OSHA should shut this building down until they respect the safety of their workers.

[Alice-dflu]

Proud of them!!

I got my entire family off Amazon, we now buy majority locally owned & made products. We’re lucky to live in a city where it’s possible to switch. We used to spend outrageous amounts of money on Amazon, literally 95% of our purchases were it. Videos/stories like these changed our habits. It’s sickening that no government, Republican or democrat, cares about these people. (Minus Bernie sometimes <3)

[TiihoPlays]

I work in an unairconditioned manufacturing plant that regularly reaches over 100 degrees on the heat index on summer days and I'll be the first to tell you these folx working at Amazon deserve every bit of the security and pay that a union would bring to those facilities.

[dulstrik]

I spent ten hours yesterday moving pallets of product stacked in totes. Easily hundreds of pounds per pallet. One is easy for anyone. Do it all day and you'll go home with blisters on your feet, aching achilles and thighs, etc. Wake up the next day, do it all over again. Amazon turns you into a zombie. Only reason I'm there is because I have a weird school schedule this semester. Just have to tough it out two more months and I'm gone.

[bigcahuna]

There is a new Amazon warehouse about five minutes from my home. The facility and property have been sitting there completely finished since November last year but entirely vacant, mostly because they can't find people to work there.

[taylortimeless]

The most recent warehouse job I had a lot of injuries that had people leaving in ambulances. I had to get a tetanus shot. The worked us like slaves. They don’t give af about the workers no matter what state they’re in. They’d write people up for getting hurt and having to take off for being hurt. They would even tell us how many days safe we were (which basically meant how many days there were no injuries). I quit over a week ago and i’m looking back on it and thinking about how crazy the culture was. “Look everyone! It’s been two days and no one hasn’t had to leave in an ambulance! The fact that people are getting hurt this often is disturbing.