Amazon Workers Describe Warehouse Dangers During Chinese Virus Pandemic
3:43
Several Amazon employees working in warehouses around the country spoke with Wired this week about the dangers of their workplace during the Chinese virus pandemic. Some of the employees allege that Amazon has failed to take simple precautions that could mitigate the spread of the virus.
According to a report by Wired, Amazon warehouse workers are facing extra challenges during the Chinese virus pandemic. The employees claim that Amazon has failed to take simple precautions, such as sanitizing the entrances that hundreds of workers pass through at the beginning and end of each shift. Instead, workers have been instructed to follow social distancing guidelines.
One warehouse employee told Wired that Amazon is failing to take simple precautions that could mitigate the spread of the virus. For example, Amazon has insisted that workers continue to use turnstiles to enter the warehouse. Moreover, the employee claims that the turnstiles have never been sanitized.
Amazon releases their own little news alerts, and one of them told us that we need to make sure we’re cleaning our scanners. They told us to do it—the people who are also working on the floor, who are also responsible for getting a certain number of packages out every shift. This is what kills me: When we walk through the main front doors, we hit these turnstiles to enter. Everyone has to touch them, and I have never, not one time in my life, seen anybody clean those things. I know that in my fulfillment center, we’ve got over 900 people who work there, and we have three entrances to choose from. All it’s going to take is one infected person.
Another employee said that he has been forced to sit on hallway floors during his breaks because there is not enough space in breakrooms for the employees to follow social distancing guidelines. One employee asked Amazon management to provide milk crates as an alternative to chairs.
My employer never gave us any specific guidelines as far as social distancing goes. It’s kind of impossible to socially distance with our jobs, because our storage room is so small. They had us take out at least 70 percent of the microwaves, in the hopes that things would be more spaced out in the break rooms. But the problem is now we have an overwhelming amount of employees trying to use way fewer microwaves. An employee asked today if we had any milk crates, because there’s not enough chairs. So we have people sitting on the floor, in the hallways, because there just simply isn’t enough room for everyone to be spaced 6 feet apart.
Despite the claims, an Amazon spokesperson told Wired that the company is taking “extreme measures” to keep employees safe. The spokesperson claimed that Amazon is “tripling down” on their standard warehouse cleaning procedures.
“Our employees are heroes fighting for their communities and helping people get critical items they need in this crisis. Like all businesses grappling with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, we are working hard to keep employees safe while serving communities and the most vulnerable,” the spokesperson said. “We have taken extreme measures to keep people safe, tripling down on deep cleaning, procuring safety supplies that are available, and changing processes to ensure those in our buildings are keeping safe distances.”
In March, Amazon and Instacart workers threatened to strike over the Chinese virus pandemic. 100 Amazon warehouse workers walked out of a warehouse in Staten Island after management refused to comply with their demand that the facility cleaned after one employee tested positive for the virus.
Stay tuned to Breitbart News for more updates on this story.
"Amazon is a massive wrecking machine
consuming American retail. It's looting
the economy and leaving behind
rubble."
DANIEL GREENFIELD
Amazon is about to kill off thousands of small businesses
3:43
Several Amazon employees working in warehouses around the country spoke with Wired this week about the dangers of their workplace during the Chinese virus pandemic. Some of the employees allege that Amazon has failed to take simple precautions that could mitigate the spread of the virus.
According to a report by Wired, Amazon warehouse workers are facing extra challenges during the Chinese virus pandemic. The employees claim that Amazon has failed to take simple precautions, such as sanitizing the entrances that hundreds of workers pass through at the beginning and end of each shift. Instead, workers have been instructed to follow social distancing guidelines.
One warehouse employee told Wired that Amazon is failing to take simple precautions that could mitigate the spread of the virus. For example, Amazon has insisted that workers continue to use turnstiles to enter the warehouse. Moreover, the employee claims that the turnstiles have never been sanitized.
Amazon releases their own little news alerts, and one of them told us that we need to make sure we’re cleaning our scanners. They told us to do it—the people who are also working on the floor, who are also responsible for getting a certain number of packages out every shift. This is what kills me: When we walk through the main front doors, we hit these turnstiles to enter. Everyone has to touch them, and I have never, not one time in my life, seen anybody clean those things. I know that in my fulfillment center, we’ve got over 900 people who work there, and we have three entrances to choose from. All it’s going to take is one infected person.
Another employee said that he has been forced to sit on hallway floors during his breaks because there is not enough space in breakrooms for the employees to follow social distancing guidelines. One employee asked Amazon management to provide milk crates as an alternative to chairs.
My employer never gave us any specific guidelines as far as social distancing goes. It’s kind of impossible to socially distance with our jobs, because our storage room is so small. They had us take out at least 70 percent of the microwaves, in the hopes that things would be more spaced out in the break rooms. But the problem is now we have an overwhelming amount of employees trying to use way fewer microwaves. An employee asked today if we had any milk crates, because there’s not enough chairs. So we have people sitting on the floor, in the hallways, because there just simply isn’t enough room for everyone to be spaced 6 feet apart.
Despite the claims, an Amazon spokesperson told Wired that the company is taking “extreme measures” to keep employees safe. The spokesperson claimed that Amazon is “tripling down” on their standard warehouse cleaning procedures.
“Our employees are heroes fighting for their communities and helping people get critical items they need in this crisis. Like all businesses grappling with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, we are working hard to keep employees safe while serving communities and the most vulnerable,” the spokesperson said. “We have taken extreme measures to keep people safe, tripling down on deep cleaning, procuring safety supplies that are available, and changing processes to ensure those in our buildings are keeping safe distances.”
In March, Amazon and Instacart workers threatened to strike over the Chinese virus pandemic. 100 Amazon warehouse workers walked out of a warehouse in Staten Island after management refused to comply with their demand that the facility cleaned after one employee tested positive for the virus.
Stay tuned to Breitbart News for more updates on this story.
rubble."
In his annual letter to shareholders, Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s chief executive and the world’s richest man, regularly likes to boast how much his company is helping small business thrive.
Sometimes the 56-year-old billionaire will pick out companies that have done particularly well. At other times he will present figures showing how independent sellers now make up 58 per cent of all items on the online retailer’s website worldwide, demonstrating how their sales are growing faster than those of Amazon itself.
That was before the pandemic hit and everything changed. In one fell swoop, Amazon has proved the power it has over hundreds of thousands of businesses worldwide who have found themselves mercilessly reliant on the decisions of a single operator.
For nearly two decades, third-party sellers have been able to use a feature with the online retail giant called Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA). This allows sellers to use Amazon’s vast network of warehouses to store, pick, pack and ship their customers’ orders for a fee. There are roughly 2.1 million active independent sellers on Amazon, including just under 300,000 business in the UK, and only 6 per cent of them don’t use the FBA feature.
Now, however, Amazon has cut that short. Overwhelmed by the sudden surge in orders for basic goods, such as toilet roll, nappies and pet food, Bezos announced last month all third-party sellers of non-essential items could no longer use Amazon’s warehouses and shipping feature. Independent merchants can continue to sell non-essential products on the website but they have to manage everything else on their own. The suspension was due to end at the start of this week but now Amazon has told third-party sellers it does not know when operations will be fully restored.
Book publishers have described the decision as “devastating”, while many businesses are now fearful they will go bankrupt. The policy has a ripple effect. Writers are now struggling to get their books sold, manufacturers lose their clients, British winemakers struggle to ship abroad. Businesses have been rushing to find alternative ways to get their products to customers, some going as far as driving them to customers’ doorsteps themselves.
At a time of need, this army of third-party sellers who helped fuel Amazon’s $280 billion revenue in 2019 have been left out in the cold. When the pandemic subsides, the nation’s regulators should ensure one company cannot hold so much sway over so many. Yet in reality, by that time, it seems many businesses may well have gone bankrupt while Amazon will be stronger than ever.
Amazon must love coronavirus
With the guidance from our elitist betters to stay home and order everything in, corporations like Amazon must be making a mint. I can't speak for others, but I'm so disappointed with Amazon that I'm well on my way to remaining with Amazon only for digital content that I've already purchased. I'm that disgusted.
I'm sure Amazon has competent software people to implement its search algorithms, so it must be purposeful that they don't work as expected. You can try to make a narrowly targeted search phrase, but Amazon opens it up to things that aren't the slightest bit related. On top of that, "free" delivery is included in the price (so it costs more), and the item is sometimes not available for over a month.
For example, you can certainly search for "water enhancer with electrolytes." It didn't limit itself to showing me water enhancers with added electrolytes. It included basic water flavorings and water enhancers with vitamins but not electrolytes. Is this an electronic version of making customers walk past everything in the store to buy the most popular items, to take advantage of impulse buying? I suspect so. It's almost as annoying as the brick-and-mortar version of the ploy, but at least I'm not abusing my arthritic knees trying to get the one item I need at the back of the store. I'm also not buying their water enhancer because I'm ticked off.
Try searching for "made in USA" items. (Skip looking for "not made in China." That only selects for "made in China.") The search results include a number of items that do not say "made in USA" anywhere in the product description. Asking about the manufacturer often yields the information (from an Amazon customer who has purchased the item) that the product was made in China, Vietnam, Cambodia, etc. To me, this goes beyond the annoyance of clutter into deceptive advertising. Sure, Amazon has a liberal return policy, but you still have the inconvenience of picking it up and returning it, and the additional delay before you try again to get an item that was really manufactured in the USA.
Enter the Amazon love for coronavirus argument: we would order a lot less and tolerate a lot less annoyance in normal times, when we could go get basics at local stores. We would make more of our own food instead of buying Ramen at double to triple the in-store price. We would go to restaurants only a few times per week. If you're unemployed on top of coronavirus worries, you cannot afford to live as if you had income. That credit card is going to have to be paid for eventually.
Welcome to shopping slavery. And you thought you had it bad before.
THE BILLIONAIRE CLASS WAGES WAR ON AMERICA!
http://mexicanoccupation.blogspot.com/2018/09/bill-gates-zuckerberg-jeff-bezos.html
Despite a booming economy, many U.S. households are still just holding on
https://mexicanoccupation.blogspot.com/2019/05/the-recovery-that-never-happened-except.html
"One of the premier institutions of big business, JP Morgan Chase, issued an internal report on the eve of the 10th anniversary of the 2008 crash, which warned that another “great liquidity crisis” was possible, and that a government bailout on the scale of that effected by Bush and Obama will produce social unrest, “in light of the potential impact of central bank actions in driving inequality between asset owners and labor."
Jim Carrey: America ‘Doomed’ If We Don’t Regulate Capitalism"
The American phenomenon of record stock values fueling an ever greater concentration of wealth at the very top of society, while the economy is starved of productive investment, the social infrastructure crumbles, and working class living standards are driven down by entrenched unemployment, wage-cutting and government austerity policies, is part of a broader global process."
"Today, each of the top 5 billionaires owns as much as 750 million people, more than the total population of Latin America and double the population of the US."
THIS SHITBAG BILLIONAIRE IS MOVING AMAZON TO INDIA BECAUSE HE BELIEVES PAYING LIVING WAGES TO AMERICANS IS DAMNED COMMIE!!!
THE BILLIONAIRE CLASS WAGES WAR ON AMERICA!
http://mexicanoccupation.blogspot.com/2018/09/bill-gates-zuckerberg-jeff-bezos.html
"GOP estb. is using the $5 billion border-wall fight to hide up to four blue/white-
collar cheap-labor programs in lame-duck DHS budget. Donors are worried that
salaries are too damn high, & estb. media does not want to know."
TOP EVIL CORPORATIONS LOOTING AMERICA
Goldman Sachs TRUMP CRONIES – CLINTON CRONIES
JPMorgan Chase OBAMA CRONIES
ExxonMobil
Halliburton BUSH CRIME FAMILY CRONIES
British American Tobacco
Dow Chemical
DuPont
Bayer
Microsoft
Google CLINTON CRONIES
Facebook OBAMA CRONIES
Amazon
Walmart
Despite a booming economy, many U.S. households are still just holding on
https://mexicanoccupation.blogspot.com/2019/05/the-recovery-that-never-happened-except.html
"One of the premier institutions of big business, JP Morgan Chase, issued an internal report on the eve of the 10th anniversary of the 2008 crash, which warned that another “great liquidity crisis” was possible, and that a government bailout on the scale of that effected by Bush and Obama will produce social unrest, “in light of the potential impact of central bank actions in driving inequality between asset owners and labor."
“Our entire crony capitalist system, Democrat and Republican alike, has become a kleptocracy approaching par with third-world hell-holes. This is the way a great country is raided by its elite.” ---- Karen McQuillan THEAMERICAN THINKER.com
“Behind the ostensible government sits enthroned an invisible government owing no allegiance and acknowledging no responsibility to the people. To destroy this invisible government, to befoul the unholy alliance between corrupt business and corrupt politics is the first task of the statesmanship of today.” THEODORE ROOSEVELT
Jim Carrey: America ‘Doomed’ If We Don’t Regulate Capitalism"
The American phenomenon of record stock values fueling an ever greater concentration of wealth at the very top of society, while the economy is starved of productive investment, the social infrastructure crumbles, and working class living standards are driven down by entrenched unemployment, wage-cutting and government austerity policies, is part of a broader global process."
The father of US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin just completed the most expensive purchase of a living artist’s work in US history, spending over $91 million on a three-foot-tall metallic sculpture. Ken Griffin, the founder of hedge fund Citadel, recently dropped $238 million on a penthouse in New York City, the most expensive US home ever purchased. And Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, the world’s richest man, has invested $42 million in a 10,000-year clock.
Decades of decaying capitalism have led to this accelerating divide. While the rich accumulate wealth with no restriction, workers’ wages and benefits have been under increasing attack. In 1979, 90 percent of the population took in 70 percent of the nation’s income. But, by 2017, that fell to only 61 percent.
"This is how they will destroy America from within. The leftist billionaires who orchestrate these plans are wealthy. Those tasked with representing us in Congress will never be exposed to the cost of the invasion of millions of migrants. They have nothing but contempt for those of us who must endure the consequences of our communities being intruded upon by gang members, drug dealers and human traffickers. These people have no intention of becoming Americans; like the Democrats who welcome them, they have contempt for us." PATRICIA McCARTHY
In 2014 the Russell Sage Foundation found that between 2003 and 2013, the median household net worth of those in the United States fell from $87,992 to $56,335—a drop of 36 percent. While the rich also saw their wealth drop during the recession, they are more than making that money back.
Between 2009 and 2012, 95 percent of all the income gains in the US went to the top 1 percent. This is the most distorted post-recession income gain on record.
"Amazon is a massive wrecking machine consuming American retail. It's looting the economy and leaving behind rubble. " --- DANIEL GREENFIELD FRONTPAGE MAG
AMAZON’S ASSAULT ON AMERICA CONTINUES
Amazon, the multinational online retail conglomerate, is importing more foreign workers to the United States to take coveted tech industry jobs than Facebook and Google combined. JOHN BINDER
"Amazon is a massive wrecking machine consuming American retail. It's looting the economy and leaving behind rubble. " --- DANIEL GREENFIELD FRONTPAGE MAG
"Today, each of the top 5 billionaires owns as much as 750 million people, more than the total population of Latin America and double the population of the US."
“A comprehensive new report released Sunday by the New York-based labor rights watchdog China Labor Watch (CLW) has shed new light on the barbaric and illegal practices that Amazon employs to boost its profits by driving down production costs on the backs of factory workers at the company’s electronics assembly plants in China.”
*
*
“A comprehensive new report released Sunday by the New York-based labor rights watchdog China Labor Watch (CLW) has shed new light on the barbaric and illegal practices that Amazon employs to boost its profits by driving down production costs on the backs of factory workers at the company’s electronics assembly plants in China.”
Amazon, the multinational online retail conglomerate, is importing more foreign workers to the United States to take coveted tech industry jobs than Facebook and Google combined. JOHN BINDER
"Amazon is a massive wrecking machine consuming American retail. It's looting the economy and leaving behind rubble. " --- DANIEL GREENFIELD FRONTPAGE MAG
AMAZON’S JEFF BEZOS IS THE FACE OF MODERN SLAVERY!
The gains for employees are a novel pain for the investors and employers who have been able to hold down wages for decades because the federal government is trying to grow the economy via cheap-labor legal immigration.
“INVESTORS” HAVE AND WILL DESTROY THIS NATION IF IT WOULD IMPACT THE NEXT QUARTER’S EARNINGS!
Amazon, the multinational online retail conglomerate, is importing more foreign workers to the United States to take coveted tech industry jobs than Facebook and Google combined. JOHN BINDER
"Amazon is a massive wrecking machine consuming American retail. It's looting the economy and leaving behind rubble. " --- DANIEL GREENFIELD FRONTPAGE MAG
EXCLUSIVE: Jeff Bezos throws lavish party at his new $23million, 11-bedroom Washington DC mansion attended by Ivanka Trump, Bill Gates and Ben Stiller
- Jeff Bezos threw a lavish party at his finally finished Washington DC mansion attended by Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, Microsoft founder Bill Gates and actor Ben Stiller on Saturday night
- The Amazon founder purchased the $23million Washington mansion in 2016 in the elite Kalorama district
- The sprawling mansion boasts 11 bedrooms, 25 bathrooms and a massive garden in the back
- Bezos invited guests to his home for an afterparty following the annual, exclusive Alfalfa Club Dinner
- White House adviser Kellyanne Conway and Sentor Mitt Romney were also in attendance
- The party was held after federal prosecutors in Manhattan revealed they have evidence that Lauren Sanchez allegedly sent her dirty texts with Bezos to her brother Michael, who then sold them to the National Enquirer
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Jeff Bezos threw a lavish party at his finally completed Washington DC mansion attended by Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, Microsoft founder Bill Gates and actor Ben Stiller.
The Amazon founder purchased the $23million Washington mansion in 2016 and it underwent three years of renovations and construction. The 27,000-square-foot home is tucked in the city's wealthy Kalorama district near the residences of former President Barack Obama and the Trump-Kushner family.
Bezos invited his high-flying friends to his home after they attended the annual, exclusive Alafalfa Club Dinner in DC.
Guests arrived in elegant suits and floor-length dresses for the swanky affair Saturday evening, but Bezos and his girlfriend Lauren Sanchez were nowhere to be seen at the entrance to the 11-bedroom, 25-bathroom grand mansion.
Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared seemed loved up as they walked out hand in hand from Alfafa Dinner on Saturday night to attend a grand welcoming party at Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' new Washington DC mansion
Microsoft founder and fellow tech genius Bill Gates was spotted at the elegant affair on Saturday to welcome Bezos into Washington DC society
Actor Ben Stiller, who was Sen. Mitt romney's guest at the dinner, was seen in good spirits arriving to the sprawling mansion on Saturday
Bezos rubbed shoulders with his political friends inviting Senator Mitt Romney to the party with his wife Ann
White House Adviser Kellyanne Conway also attended the fête sporting an elegant black halter dress for the occasion
Kellyanne Conway was all smiles as she arrived to the home wearing tiger print heels and a shimmering shawl
The Amazon founder purchased the $23million Washington mansion that has undergone over three years of renovations and construction and is tucked in the city's wealthy Kalorama district
Jeff Bezos and girlfriend Lauren Sanchez were both at the lavish soiree but were not spotted in the entry way at the start of the special night
Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared seemed loved up as they arrived to the mansion hand in hand.
Senator Mitt Romney, who was the keynote speaker at the Alfalfa dinner, was also spotted dressed in a smart suit and bowtie with his wife Ann who wore a grey satin ensemble for the special occasion.
White House Adviser Kellyanne Conway attended the fête in an elegant black halter dress.
Not only did Bezos expand his political circle but he also invited Microsoft founder Bill Gates to the event as well as actor Ben Stiller, who was Sen. Romney's guest to the Alfalfa dinner.
Many guests were seen wearing a special gold medallions around their neck designating them as Alfalfa Club members.
The group had attended the Alfalfa Club dinner, a club that holds an annual black tie banquet and political roast on the last Saturday of January every year. The event is only open to the 200 members of the club and has an invitation system. The exclusive event is not open to the press.
While several presidents have been members and former presidents including George W Bush and Barack Obama spoke at the Alfalfa banquets in the past, Donald Trump is yet to be invited.
Gates pictured arriving to Bezos' lavish estate with two guests. Former Secretary of Defense James Mattis pictured bearing a medal behind Gates
Alfalfa Club member Dina Powell, a former adviser to the Trump administration and current Goldman Sachs partner, and her husband David McCormick, co-CEO of Bridgewater Associates, the world's largest hedge fund, pictured arriving to Bezos' party
Missouri Senator Roy Blunt pictured with wife Abigail arriving to Bezos' home
Jerome Powell, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, pictured right with guests arriving to the Bezos mansion
The group had attended the Alfalfa Club dinner, a club that holds an annual black tie banquet and political roast on the last Saturday of January every year. The event is only open to the 200 members of the club and has an invitation system. The exclusive event is not open to the press
Guests pictured arriving to the Amazon founder's party at his mansion, finally renovated after three years of construction
While several presidents have been members and former presidents including George W Bush and Barack Obama spoke at the Alfalfa banquets in the past, Donald Trump is yet to be invited. Guests pictured arriving to the Bezos party
A guest bearing an Alfalfa Club medal pictured arriving to Bezos' after party in his new DC home on Saturday night
Also in attendance at Bezos' party were United States Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao, JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, businessman David Rubeinstein, Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon, CBS Evening News anchor Norah O'Donnell, Case Foundation CEO Jean Case and husband AOL founder Steve Case, Politico founder Robert Allbritton, Barbie Allbritton, former House Speaker Paul Ryan and wife Janna, former White House Press Secretary Jay Carney and wife Good Morning America correspondent Claire Shipman, former Defense for Public Affairs Geoff Morrell, and Hilton president Chris Nassetta, according to Politico.
Lauren Sanchez also attended her beau's lavish soiree but neither she nor Bezos were spotted by cameras after entering a gated area in their new estate. The party comes on the heels of a stark revelation in their text-leaking scandal.
On Friday federal prosecutors in Manhattan revealed they have evidence indicating that Bezos' girlfriend Sanchez provided dirty text messages with Bezos to her brother that he then sold to the National Enquirer for an explosive story on the Amazon founder's affair.
Prosecutors have obtained documents including a May 10, 2018 text message sent from the phone of Bezos' girlfriend Lauren Sanchez to her brother Michael Sanchez, containing her intimates texts with Bezos, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The Journal said it had reviewed the text messages as well as a $200,000 payment Michael Sanchez received from the Enquirer under an October 2018 contract.
The front of the $23million mansion pictured under construction in July 2019
Plans: This diagram of the property shows the building and gardens which were described as 'beautiful' and 'astonishing' by people who have seen them
Addition: Floor plans for the property include a media room with 'tiered seating'. Bezos will use the property as an East Coast base to go with other properties around the country
Detailed: One construction expert remarked that the project appeared to be 'in the home stretch' with work now focusing on details such as light fittings
Extensive: The work is turning the property into Washington's largest home, with 11 bedrooms, 25 bathrooms, five living rooms, two kitchens and two libraries
Prosecutors obtained the documents in an ongoing investigation into Bezos' allegation that the Enquirer tried to extort him by threatening to publish his nude pictures, as well as whether his phone was hacked. Bezos himself has long pushed the suggestion that Saudi Arabia was involved as the Enquirer's source.
In addition to the photo and text-leaking scandal, Bezos' investigators said this week that the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia had sent malicious code in a WhatsApp message that compromised the cell phone of Bezos.
But, Saudi Arabia denies hacking Bezos' phone.
The Enquirer claims that Michael Sanchez was their source for the bombshell story that revealed Bezos' affair, while Michael Sanchez denies he had anything to do with it.