Dozens of workers at a major cargo hub in California stepped out during their shifts on Monday to protest wages and safety conditions. According to , more than 150 of the 1,500 employees at the San Bernardino plant were involved in the shutdown. Amazon disputed that figure, claiming that about 74 people left.
This is said to be the first coordinated labor action by the company’s airfreight division, taking place at Amazon’s largest air hub in California. The operation was led by a group of workers organized called Inland Empire Amazon Workers United.
The coalition has urged to raise the base wage at factories from $17 to $22 an hour, known as KSBD. Amazon says full-time workers have benefits and can earn up to $19.25 an hour.
The Inland Empire Amazon Workers Federation also called for working conditions, claiming that the airport temperature reached 95 degrees as reported by on July 24 sky. Managers are said to have opened more rest areas after previous complaints about overheating. “They say there is air conditioning, but you can only feel it in certain parts,” Daniel Rivera, head of the shutdown, told the Post. An Amazon spokesperson claimed the highest recorded temperature at the center was 77 degrees.
The striking workers currently have no plans to apply to the National Labor Relations Board for union elections, but they are open to the idea amid a wave of unionization across the company. Amazon objected in Staten Island, New York. The result of a second election at a warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama, was with hundreds of votes.
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