New York Bill Would Force Amazon To Limit Grueling Warehouse Quotas (vice.com) 22
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Motherboard: In the latest effort to challenge Amazon's grueling labor practices, a new bill, that was introduced on Friday, would require New York employers to disclose and place limits on productivity quotas for warehouse workers. The New York bill, known as the Warehouse Worker Protection Act, is an expanded version of a similar first-of-its-kind law that passed in California last year aimed at Amazon that regulates warehouse worker productivity quotas. The legislation is in part a response to skyrocketing injury rates in Amazon warehouses linked to productivity expectations. Recent data shows that workers in the e-commerce warehousing industry in New York experience serious work-related injuries at three times the average rate for private industry in the state, according to OSHA data.
The New York bill would require employers with at least 50 employees in a single warehouse or 500 workers statewide to share a written description of productivity quotas, how the quotas are developed, and how they can be used for disciplinary purposes with each worker. It would also ensure that production quotas do not interfere with workers' basic rights such as bathroom breaks and rest periods or health and safety laws. [...] Amazon has provided little transparency into how productivity "rates" that are designed by algorithms are formulated, but said that it creates productivity targets for workers that are based on their experience and take into consideration health and safety. [...] The bill takes California's law a few steps further by requiring employers to develop and implement an injury reduction program with worker input that identifies and addresses job hazards, such as rapid pace and heavy lifting, that can cause musculoskeletal injuries. This includes a worksite evaluation by an ergonomics consultant and worker training on how to avoid injuries. "The Warehouse Worker Protection Act will give workers in this industry -- union or not -- the ability to demand that their health and bodily integrity is accounted for, and not sacrificed for profits they do not get to share in," said Jessica Ramos, the bill's author and a New York state senator from Queens. "As the senate labor chair, I see it as my responsibility to clear the path for any worker who needs to stand up to an abusive employer."
The New York bill would require employers with at least 50 employees in a single warehouse or 500 workers statewide to share a written description of productivity quotas, how the quotas are developed, and how they can be used for disciplinary purposes with each worker. It would also ensure that production quotas do not interfere with workers' basic rights such as bathroom breaks and rest periods or health and safety laws. [...] Amazon has provided little transparency into how productivity "rates" that are designed by algorithms are formulated, but said that it creates productivity targets for workers that are based on their experience and take into consideration health and safety. [...] The bill takes California's law a few steps further by requiring employers to develop and implement an injury reduction program with worker input that identifies and addresses job hazards, such as rapid pace and heavy lifting, that can cause musculoskeletal injuries. This includes a worksite evaluation by an ergonomics consultant and worker training on how to avoid injuries. "The Warehouse Worker Protection Act will give workers in this industry -- union or not -- the ability to demand that their health and bodily integrity is accounted for, and not sacrificed for profits they do not get to share in," said Jessica Ramos, the bill's author and a New York state senator from Queens. "As the senate labor chair, I see it as my responsibility to clear the path for any worker who needs to stand up to an abusive employer."
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
Amazon was cold and dismissive after forcing workers to their deaths during the holiday shopping season in an Amazon warehouse due to an active tornado that killed many. That happened not even six months ago.
Sometimes actions of the State to protect the workforce are in fact justified. I can't imagine the amount of children that would be dying in Amazon warehouses had they existed 150 years ago.
Re:This is not to protect workers (Score:5, Informative)
Here's a longer article [cnbc.com] with more detail about the event. I'm not seeing anything about workers forced to work to their deaths; it actually sounds to me like this was a freak occurrence that caught people off-guard.
This article [nytimes.com] says that 90 people were killed by this tornado; this natural event was hardly Amazon's fault.
Re: This is not to protect workers (Score:1)
Re: This is not to protect workers (Score:1)
I thought this was already fixed by unions having formed in left-wing areas with Amazon warehouses. Why do we need a law if theyâ(TM)re unionized, let the union take care of it.
Loophole! (Score:2)
"The Warehouse Worker Protection Act will give workers in this industry -- union or not -- the ability to demand that their health and bodily integrity is accounted for, and not sacrificed for profits they do not get to share in," ...
Give them each a share of Amazon stock, then their sacrifices will be okay ...
Meh (Score:1, Insightful)
The Warehouse Worker Protection Act will give workers in this industry -- union or not -- the ability to demand that their health and bodily integrity is accounted for, and not sacrificed for profits they do not get to share in," said Jessica Ramos, the bill's author and a New York state senator from Queens
Leaving aside the overly-dramatic first part of the equation ... there's this thing called a "paycheck", that is in fact a share of the profits.
Re: (Score:3)
Leaving aside the overly-dramatic first part of the equation ... there's this thing called a "paycheck", that is in fact a share of the profits
A paycheck is a expense to the company [accountingtools.com]. Profit is what remains after you've deducted expenses from revenue (assuming a positive value).
That's just playing with words. Yes, paychecks are taken out of inflowing money before what's left of that money gets to be called "profit". They are literally taken out of what is going to be the "profit" before we call it that.
Re:Meh (Score:4, Informative)
That's just playing with words
No, it's not. Salaries are an expense. There is no quibbling or gaslighting on this.
Yes, paychecks are taken out of inflowing money before what's left of that money gets to be called "profit". They are literally taken out of what is going to be the "profit" before we call it that.
Wrong again. Paychecks are taken out of revenue which might become profit, but only if there is more revenue than expenses.
For an employee to truly share in the profits of a company the company would need to set up a profit sharing plan. Meaning, after all expenses are paid, including salaries, the company would give employees additional money beyond their paycheck which would come from profits the company earned.
Re: (Score:2)
That's just playing with words
No, it's not. Salaries are an expense. There is no quibbling or gaslighting on this.
Yes, paychecks are taken out of inflowing money before what's left of that money gets to be called "profit". They are literally taken out of what is going to be the "profit" before we call it that.
Wrong again. Paychecks are taken out of revenue which might become profit, but only if there is more revenue than expenses.
For an employee to truly share in the profits of a company the company would need to set up a profit sharing plan. Meaning, after all expenses are paid, including salaries, the company would give employees additional money beyond their paycheck which would come from profits the company earned.
Again, money is fungible. I'm not disputing the way those words are used, I'm pointing to the more fundamental fact that the ability to pay wages at all comes from the financial success of the company.
If you draw wages at all, you are sharing in the financial success of the company.
Going all pitchfork and torches over mere accounting lexicon makes little sense. I'm talking about actual real concepts, not just what we label them.
Re: (Score:2)
Leaving aside the overly-dramatic first part of the equation ... there's this thing called a "paycheck", that is in fact a share of the profits.
Well... absent a profit-sharing arrangement, employee pay is usually/technically considered a business expense. Profits are what's left after all expenses are paid. That said, the aforementioned employee "sacrifices" should be reflected in their pay.
Seems fair to me (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
New York has to pay for the cost of the injured workers.
I find this hard to believe. NY State doesn't have a workers compensation insurance process in place? Employers pay premiums into state programs (or set up a self insurance plan). Injured workers medical and lost wages are paid out of the plan.
So it's in their best interests to prevent Amazon from injuring those workers in the first place.
Or they just jack up the employers premiums.
Re: (Score:3)
Or rather than forcing companies who aren't run by sociopaths to for the bill for Amazon, they can just do something reasonable and make it illegal to injure people intentionally rather than have it as a business expense shared across the industry.
Re: Seems fair to me (Score:1)
Exactly, Amazon pays the cost of their employees getting injured. All this is going to do is drive small warehouse companies out of business with additional regulation, we all know Amazon can afford to comply with additional paperwork, a small business may not be able to hire yet another paper-usher.
Automation should be the first priority (Score:3)
Amazon needs to automate ASAP. They need to tell all their suppliers to package items in standardized robot friendly packaging.
Humans are not meant to do repetitive labor for other people. Humans discriminate against each other. They harass each other. They overwork each other. Let's face it, many (if not most) humans don't care what happens to someone outside of the clan. Humans are loose canons. Humans snap. Humans are a liability.
Losing Jobs for New York since 1976 (Score:2)
bodily integrity is accounted for, and not sacrificed for profits they do not get to share in,
Uh, a job that you have and the benefits provided by it are paid for by the profits of the business unless you're an elected official and then you're just a leech.
Working in a warehouse is tough and demanding, it's not for everyone that's why it's a warehouse and not a public library. While I don't approve of quota systems we also have to remember that businesses exist to make money. Reducing productivity isn't the answer to this.
Re: (Score:2)
Amazon had a net profit of nearly $21,000 per employee in 2021 ($33.36 billion vs 1.6 million employees), while squashing competition. I think they can afford to not grind their employees into a pulp in the name of profit.
Re: (Score:2, Flamebait)
While I don't approve of quota systems we also have to remember that businesses exist to make money.
Businesses as limited liability entities exist only for the net benefit to society. There is no natural right to limited liability protection,
Reducing productivity isn't the answer to this.
Are you a spokesman for the Grand Negus now? Profit is not holy.
So, you're begging the question: WHY is reducing productivity not the answer?
Do not want! (Score:2)
Didn't you see?
It was between the two other articles about climate change.
It has been a TERRIBLE quarter for amazon.
We HAVE to squeeze the workers even harder now.
The time for great sacrifice is at hand!
Our thoughts and prayers are with the shareholders.
Ramen!
apples and oranges and kumquats (Score:2)
Always hard to tell in comparisons such as this if the underlying data is comparable and has undergone more than a superficial analysis.
Let's backtrack to see what organizations are pushing this narrative. This article leads into nest of crosslinked articles posted on Vice, Verge and even a few sites that don't start with V and mostly written by young, passionate and judging from their social media activity, strongly left leaning authors. The origin of the statistics of horror all come down to reports fro