Workers at the Amazon warehouse in New York staged an impromptu walkout on Monday night due to the "unsafe working conditions" at the facility after a fire broke out.
Staten Island Live reports that night shift workers, led by Amazon Labor Union President Christian Smalls, were demanding to get paid as they were asked to go home because of unforeseen circumstances.
Accident Ignites An Even Bigger Fire Within Amazon's Employees
Amazon workers from the Staten Island warehouse went on strike at the company's fulfillment center through a sit-in at the HR Office after the management refused to let them leave last Monday.
Paul Flannigan, Amazon's spokesperson, told Gothamist that the fire that broke out in one of the warehouses started in a cardboard compactor.
He says that day shift employees were safely evacuated and sent with home pay, while other employees continued to work uninterrupted.
However, this is where the labor union found unjust treatment as Newsweek reports that unlike employees in the morning shift, night shift workers were still asked to go back to their stations once the fire was out in the evening.
The night shift workers were reportedly not let out from work with pay and were threatened with deductions and warnings for refusing to go back on deck to work.
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Workers of Amazon Unite To Call Upon Action
Hundreds of unionized employees joined the walkout, refusing to return and citing dangerous conditions at the warehouse in their protest, Vice writes.
According to Newsweek, Union Leader Smalls took Twitter to announce the march off, also sharing a video of the fire at the facility where a worker can be heard telling people to evacuate.
Smalls also wrote in his tweet that hundreds of workers wanted to go home due to the smoke at the warehouse and the smell of burnt chemicals lingering on the docks.
Smalls said that Amazon withheld the workers in the facility despite the risks, refusing to let night shift employees be sent home with pay.
Newsweek says that the labor leader is adamant that Amazon will be held accountable for still making at least a thousand employees work despite what happened.
Seth Goldstein, Amazon Union Leader's lawyer, told Vice that the incident was a case of neglect as the compactor that was on fire had been a problem for weeks now.
Read More: Amazon Increases Wage of Warehouse and Delivery Workers
Unionization Efforts Are In Place
In the middle of the controversies that Amazon is facing, the Staten Island fulfillment center became the first Amazon location to organize its workers into a union earlier this year, according to Vice.
"There's been lots of agitation and conversations talking about being exploited by the bosses and this is typical Amazon, typical corporate failure to take care of their employees," a night shift worker named Jordan Chariton told Newsweek.
Amazon, in response to this action, had sought to overturn the vote to unionize and refused to negotiate with the union about their needs and wants as a collective, Gothamist reports.
"We strongly disagree with the conclusion and intend to appeal," said Flaningan, firm on the company's belief that the vote was invalid and unauthorized.
However, according to Newsweek, the National Labor Relations Board found that Amazon had no grounds to contest the vote, ruling the victory of the labor union, much to Amazon's dismay.
Engadget writes that the workers at a warehouse in Albany are following suit and are slated to vote on whether unionization should take effect at their warehouse and fulfillment center as well.
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