One hundred and sixty Amazon employees walked out of a San Bernardino, Calif., warehouse on Monday, demanding higher wages and better working conditions.
Inland Empire Amazon Workers United (IEAWU) said Monday, “We are organizing for $5 pay increases, safer working conditions and an end to retaliation at the KSBD warehouse.” Ignored.
“Our demands have been ignored by Amazon, and we have had enough,” IEAWU said. “Today, 160 of us quit.”
The facility, referred to as KSBD, is one of Amazon’s largest facilities on the West Coast and one of the largest in the U.S. It is one of only three “air hubs”. The company uses the facility to transport packages to its warehouses across the country.
The union said 900 workers at the facility have signed a petition asking the company to increase the hourly base pay rate from the current base pay rate of $17 an hour to $22 an hour. The union also raised concerns about working in dangerous heat conditions, which they say have caused illness.
The union noted that last month, temperatures in the facility reached 95 degrees for 24 days.
“Amazon may provide higher standards for workers, but they don’t,” Hub employee Sarah Fee said in a statement. “A warehouse is just a warehouse. A company is just a company. The people are the ones who do all this work and we are strong and united to fight for what we deserve.”
It’s the latest in a series of walkouts and unions organized by Amazon over the past year, which included a union formed at the company’s Staten Island, N.Y., warehouse earlier this year.
In a statement to The Hill, Amazon spokesman Paul Flanningen said full-time workers at the San Bernardino facility can earn up to $19.25 an hour and receive industry-leading benefits such as health care and 20 weeks of paid parental leave. can.
The company also contested union figures on how many workers took part in the walkout, saying 74 of the 1,500 workers at the facility took part.
“While we are always listening and looking for ways to improve, we are proud of the competitive pay, wide benefits, and engaging, safe work experience we provide to our teams in this region,” Flanningen told The Hill. Told.