Amazon Workers in ATL6 Warehouse Demand Better Working Conditions

Amazon is shrouded in yet another controversy as complaints surface about the retail company and how it treats its workers. The issue remains to be the labor practices set upon its employees, the latest one being from the ATL6 warehouse in Georgia.

The workers in the Atlanta warehouse have joined the Union For Respect at a press conference stating that the retailer exposes its warehouse staff to unsafe working conditions and low wages, as mentioned in Engadget.

The Workers' Statements

Brandon Callaway, a former worker from Amazon's ATL6 warehouse, said they were being paid $15 an hour. He claimed that no one could live off of the amount nowadays due to inflation. Callaway also mentioned that he was fired after leading an effort for higher wages.

Callaway, despite battling a stage five kidney disease, helped to organize the movement to call out Amazon for its low wages. They demanded a $5 per hour increase for all the employees at the Atlanta warehouse.

He claims that he recorded the whole thing and then got fired two days after recording HR at Amazon, according to 11Alive. Callaway believes that his being fired is the company's way of retaliating against him.

He has been unemployed for a month now, and it has taken a toll on his physical and mental well-being. He expressed that he now needed to get food stamps and is worried about feeding his son.

Cynthia Winters, also a former worker from the said warehouse, claimed that the equipment in the place was unsanitary. The water coolers had mold in them, and that one might find roaches in the coffee and ice machine.

Karen Tucker, a worker who has been in the ATL6 warehouse, said that livable wages, safer working conditions, and respect for all workers have been long overdue. She expressed that they were fighting for what they deserve since without them, there would be no Amazon.

United for Respect (UFR) has been calling Amazon out via Twitter. The tweet mentions that they should stop violating workers' rights. Included in the tweet were demands for a $5 wage increase, an $18 base pay, and reinstating workers that were ford for organizing the movements.

Along the thread of the tweet, UFR had also declared that they were not backing down. They added that some workers had not had a pay raise in years, even after the cost of living has increased, as well as Amazon's profits.

In the thread, it was also mentioned that workers are breaking their bodies to keep up with "dangerous and exploitive" working conditions, especially during days like holidays and Prime days.

Read Also: Amazon $3000 Signing Bonus for Seasonal Employees; But What About Its Working Conditions?

The Company's Response

Aside from firing two workers, United for Respect, a nonprofit group that was associated with the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, claimed that the company was also intimidating associates.

Amazon has no direct response yet about the issue. Though, it is not expected as Amazon does not respond to other issues concerning worker complaints as well.