13 US states demand worker safety data from Amazon

With seven employees dying at Amazon’s warehouses and Whole Foods stores, the American multinational group is making headlines for all the wrong reasons. About 13 states in the US have written to the Company demanding data on the safety measures it has in place for its employees and its sick leave policies.

According to media reports, the Company was not following adequate safety measures and had no proper sick leave policies in place. It has been alleged that Amazon does not have proper data on the infections and deaths that have occurred amongst its workforce.

Therefore, the Company along with its Whole Foods subsidiary has been asked to submit details of all measures related to health and safety that it has adopted for its workers, compliance with state laws pertaining to paid sick leaves and the infections and deaths that have occurred within the organisation. Earlier, in March, these states had written to Amazon directing it to improve its paid sick leave policies.

Amazon is yet to reveal exactly how many of its employees were found to have tested positive for the coronavirus. However, the media has reported that at least seven Amazon employees have lost their lives to the virus.

The Company has been asked to provide assurances that it has taken all adequate measures to protect its employees and is following all state laws and federal guidance to protect all essential workers.

While Amazon has all the while been maintaining that it is ensuring regular cleaning of its facilities, social distancing between workers and also checking the temperature of employees before their shifts, the workers themselves had raised their voice against the unsafe work conditions.

Having hired over a lakh workers in the face of increasing demand from online shoppers during the crisis, the CEO had announced that Amazon would be spending $4 billion on logistics as well as safety measures for employees.