Feb 17, 2024 10:00:00

Complaint that the working environment at Amazon warehouse was so poor that he was fired when he raised the issue of the death of a colleague

Amazon's warehouses around the world are often cited for poor working conditions, with

the incidence of serious employee injuries reported to be twice the industry average . In Poland, an employee complained that a co-worker had died due to the warehouse working environment, but was fired by Amazon.

I Was Illegal Fired by Amazon for Speaking Out About a Coworker's Death
https://jacobin.com/2023/11/i-was-illegally-fired-by-amazon-for-speaking-out-about-a-coworkers-death/

In September 2021, a 49-year-old Dariusz Jamski working at an Amazon warehouse near Poznań, Poland, collapsed inside the factory and died. Magda Malinowska, a co-worker, said that although Jamski had a history of heart attacks, he was required to do hard physical work, working alone for long periods of time in jobs that normally involve multiple people. .

At the time, Mr. Jamski reported the harsh working conditions to his superiors, but Amazon ignored his reports. In turn, they reduced the number of employees doing the same work as Mr. Jamski, further worsening his working conditions.

Just before his death, Mr. Jamski was instructed to walk alone through a warehouse the size of 12 soccer fields to the infirmary.

Mr. Malinowska and his colleagues had been requesting Amazon to investigate the energy consumption and working environment of workers since Mr. Jamski was alive. However, Amazon only made rough estimates of workers' energy consumption and did not report proper findings.

Therefore, with the cooperation of the local labor inspection bureau and the Central Institute for Labor Protection (CIOP), Mr. Malinowska and his colleagues succeeded in conducting an investigation into the working environment surrounding some employees. It was found that some employees surveyed were working at twice the level permitted by labor standards.

Malinowska said that while Amazon is working to optimize work processes by placing scanners and cameras throughout its warehouses, it also prohibits workers from leaving their positions for more than three minutes. It is said that workers' bodies and movements are strictly controlled. Therefore, Mr. Malinowska pointed out that if you quickly repeat the same movement for a long time, ``your body will be completely destroyed.''

Amazon fired Malinowska after she spoke out against poor working conditions at Amazon warehouses. Mr. Malinowska sued the court claiming that ``this dismissal was unfair'' and won the lawsuit in October 2023. In addition, Mr. Malinowska told the overseas media Jacobin, ``I have no intention of returning to Amazon.''

'I don't think Amazon will change its course as a result of the outcome of this case,' Malinowska said. 'Amazon will act as if it has nothing to fear and will break as many rules and regulations as possible.' 'Nonetheless, this victory in court is a small step towards stopping Amazon's tyranny.'

Malinowska also revealed that workers at Amazon warehouses in Poland and Germany are cooperating with each other, pushing for stronger unions across borders, aggressive labor standards inspections at Amazon, and We encourage them to improve their working conditions based on the results.