E-commerce company denies UNI Global Union survey that says company sets tough targets for warehouse workers and drivers
Shiva Raja New Delhi
Only one in five Amazon warehouse workers and drivers in India feels the working environment is safe, according to a report by UNI Global Union on Wednesday. The e-commerce company subsequently denied its allegations.
The report by the Global Federation of Services Unions comes weeks after media reports of dangerous working conditions in Amazon warehouses in and around Delhi NCR during last month's heatwave.
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“Only 21.3 percent of warehouse workers and drivers believe that the work environment at Amazon is safe, while nearly 45 percent of warehouse workers and 47 percent of delivery drivers find the work environment at Amazon unsafe,” said the report, published in collaboration with the Amazon India Workers Association (AIWA). It is based on a survey of 1,838 former and current Amazon India warehouse workers and drivers.
Four out of five warehouse workers said the goals set by Amazon were “difficult” or “very difficult” to achieve. Eighty-six percent of warehouse workers and 28 percent of drivers said the company does not give them enough time to use the bathroom.
One in five delivery workers surveyed said they had been injured on the job. According to the report, 46 percent of warehouse workers and 37 percent of delivery workers said their wages were not enough to cover their basic needs.
Amazon has denied these allegations, saying they are factually incorrect, unfounded and contradict the statements of its own employees.
“The data cited appears questionable at best and, at worst, deliberately designed to support a particular story that certain groups want to portray as fact. In contrast, in our recent internal survey at our fulfilment centre in Manesar (in Haryana) – which was conducted randomly and anonymously – 87 per cent of our workforce said they were satisfied with their jobs and eight out of 10 recommend Amazon as a great place to work,” the Amazon India spokesperson said in a statement.
The report was commissioned by UNI Global Union and conducted by Jarrow Insights over 50 days from February 2 to March 22, 2024, using both on-site and digital methods to ensure a representative sample of Amazon's workforce in India.
The union conducted a similar study last year in eight countries, including the US, Germany and the UK, to report on the high pressure and harmful working conditions at Amazon.
“The findings from India reflect the global concerns raised by workers around the world about inhumane productivity demands, inadequate safety measures and poor pay,” UNI Global Union said in a statement.
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