After union vote, Bezos vows to accomplish better for Amazon workers

After a union battle at an Alabama warehouse, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos acknowledged that Amazon has to do better because of its workers and vowed to make Amazon a safer destination to work.

Bezos made the promise Thursday in his twelve-monthly letter to shareholders. He said he didn't take comfort in the results of the recent union election in Bessemer, Alabama, despite the fact that personnel there overwhelmingly rejected a union.

“I think we must do an improved job for our employees,” said Bezos, who'll be stepping down as CEO later this season and will become executive chair of the web shopping giant.

Amazon's treatment of workers has been in the spotlight through the pandemic. While coronavirus was raging, warehouse staff had to pack orders as Amazon sales soared.

The New York lawyer general is suing Amazon for not doing enough to safeguard personnel against the virus at two facilities in the town. And earlier this month, the business vowed to boost working conditions after acknowledging that some delivery drivers might have had to urinate in bottles to provide packages on time, an allegation the company previously denied.

The letter from Bezos comes weekly after personnel in Alabama voted against forming a union, cutting off a path that labor activists had hoped would bring about similar efforts through the entire company.

Workers who were seeking a union said they spent 10-hour days on their feet packing packages and unloading boxes, with only two 30-minute breaks and not enough time to consume lunch, go to the bathroom or get over the back-breaking work.

Bezos disputed the portrayal of Amazon staff and how they are treated.

“If you read some of the news reports, it might seem we have no look after employees. In those reports, our employees are occasionally accused to be desperate souls and treated as robots,” Bezos wrote. “That’s not accurate. They’re complex and thoughtful people who have options for where you can work.”

Bezos said part of his focus as chair is to make warehouse jobs safer. He said about 40% of injuries are sprains and strains due to repeating the same motions and are more likely to occur during a worker’s first half a year in the work. He said training can help those “employed in a physical role for the very first time.” And he said the business is deploying technology this season which will change up a worker's job so they're not using the same muscles again and again.

Stuart Appelbaum, president of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, which organized personnel at Bessemer, said Thursday that the letter from Bezos proves what it turned out saying about poor conditions at Amazon's warehouses.

“Workers need a union - not simply another Amazon pr effort in damage control," Appelbaum said.