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ONTARIO, Calif. –  More than eight years after the California Legislature passed and the governor signed protections for California workers who labor indoors into law, the members of the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board voted to pass the regulations giving employers clearer standards regarding precautions for workers in indoor worksites in high temperatures.

Warehouse workers and advocates have testified before Cal/OSHA and the Standards Board about the urgent need for indoor heat protections for workers in physical occupations many times prior to a final vote of the Board. In March, the Standards Board also voted to pass the protections only to have them withdrawn and rewritten to exclude the California Dept. of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Since the March meeting, the Chair of the Board was demoted and one member removed. 

Statement from Tim Shadix, Legal Director for the Warehouse Worker Resource Center: 

“We have never taken our eyes off the goal – protections for all California workers from heat. The road to get to the vote today has been long, but we hope there are no further delays and employees and employers are informed of these new protections before summer’s end. As we experience more extreme heat and longer and hotter summers, especially in the Inland Empire, it is absolutely essential that employers do more to prevent heat illness, including cooling work areas and providing for water and rest.”

Regarding the changes to the Standards Board, Shadix offered: 

“Board members Stock and Thomas brought professionalism and deep and practical experience to their roles. They made the Board stronger and we are disappointed that they appear to be experiencing retaliation for simply moving worker protections forward.” 

Background

In 2016 the Warehouse Worker Resource Center supported legislation introduced by Sen. Connie Leyva that created standards for indoor workers. The legislation came after Domingo Blancas, a warehouse worker in Chino, Calif., fell ill while working on a hot summer day. He was hospitalized for several days. Cal/OSHA cited the warehouse operator and the temp agency for failing to adequately identify, evaluate, correct, or train workers on the hazards of heat exposure and heat illness. 

The California Legislature passed SB1167 and it was signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown that same year. The legislation called on the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) to draft new standards by January 2019. Six years after the law was enacted,  the Cal/OSHA Standards Board held its first hearing on the proposal and on June 20 the Standards Board voted to pass an amended standard into effect. 

The Warehouse Worker Resource Center alongside warehouse workers has been fighting – and winning – for protections from these dangerous conditions. A full timeline of the WWRC’s efforts is here. 

Media Contact: media@warehouseworkers.org

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About the WWRC

The Warehouse Worker Resource Center is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3), organization founded in 2011 dedicated to improving working conditions in the warehouse industry in Southern California. The WWRC builds worker power through education, advocacy, and collective action to improve working conditions for the hundreds of thousands of warehouse workers in the Inland Region and Southern California.

Inland Empire Amazon Workers Prompt Investigation, Leading to nearly $6 million in Citations at two Amazon Warehouses

ONTARIO, Calif. – Amazon.com Services LLC was cited twice for $5.9 million for violating California’s Warehouse Worker Protection Act, or AB 701, at two large facilities in Southern California’s Inland Empire. 

The California Labor Commissioner’s Office issued the citations after finding that at the two facilities, Amazon did not provide employees with a written description of any work quotas they are expected to meet. AB 701, sponsored by former Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez, was signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2021 and went into effect in 2022. 

“Amazon management really makes people stress about rate,” said Carrie Stone, who works at Amazon’s ONT8 facility in Moreno Valley. “If you don’t scan enough items you will get written up. This happened to me. I got written up for not making rate. They said I missed by one point, but I didn’t even know what the target was.”

The citations cover thousands of workers at two Amazon warehouses in the Inland Empire, ONT9 in Redlands and ONT8 in Moreno Valley. The citations include penalties of over $1.2 million at ONT9 and nearly $4.7 million at ONT8. 

“Amazon’s push for speed leads to high rates of injuries,” said Mindy Acevedo, staff attorney with the Warehouse Worker Resource Center. “AB 701 provides important protections against dangerous work speeds and unfair quota practices, but these citations show Amazon failed to follow fundamental parts of the law. Courageous workers sounded the alarm about these violations and the Labor Commissioner took prompt action. We heard from workers that not only were they required to work at an unsafe pace, there was little transparency around work expectations and they could lose their jobs if they failed to meet these undisclosed quotas. Amazon workers are entitled to what AB 701 promises – fairness and transparency around quota expectations and a safe pace of work.” 

The Amazon citations are among the first citations in California for AB 701 violations issued by the Labor Commissioner’s Office. Since September 2023, the LCO has issued citations totaling $7.8 million to five entities, including Amazon, for failing to provide written quota descriptions to their workers.

Following AB 701’s passage in California, similar legislation has since been enacted in Minnesota, New York, Oregon and Washington. In May, Sen. Edward Markey (D-Mass) introduced a federal version of the Warehouse Worker Protection Act in Congress. 

Workplace Safety Crisis at Amazon

Warehouse workers at Amazon experience injuries at alarming rates. Amazon’s own injury data reported to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) show an injury rate 75% higher than the average rate across non-Amazon warehouses and a serious injury rate more than twice as high as the rate for non-Amazon warehouses, according to an analysis of 2023 data by the Strategic Organizing Center. A recent study from the University of Illinois-Chicago suggests that actual injury rates may in fact be far higher, finding that nearly half of Amazon workers report being injured on the job.

According to a May 2024 report from the National Employment Law Project, “Injuries at Amazon warehouses are much more likely to be serious enough to require time off work or job transfer than at other comparable warehouse employers (with at least 10 facilities that employ 1,000 or more workers).”

Amazon Faces Multiple Citations Related to Worker Safety 

Nine separate federal and state level OSHA investigations in the last three years have found that the high level of injury risk in Amazon’s operations violated the law. In 2023, federal OSHA opened new investigations of ergonomic hazards and later issued violations at three additional warehouses in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. OSHA also issued new violations for Amazon’s failure to keep accurate injury records at five warehouses in New Jersey, Delaware, New York, Pennsylvania and Missouri. 

Washington State OSHA (WISHA), has conducted five previous investigations of Amazon warehouses showing 16 violations, and in August 2023 the state agency issued four additional “willful” violations for ergonomic hazards.

The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating whether Amazon underreported injury data to its own workers, and made false representations about this data to lenders.

What are the details of the Warehouse Worker Protection Act (AB 701)? 

Under AB 701 (enacted as California Labor Code 2100 et seq), a quota is simply the number of tasks you are required to complete in a certain time period. The law covers those who work in a warehouse with 100 or more employees or is operated by a company with 1,000 or more total warehouse employees in California.

AB 701 promotes fairness and transparency in the workplace – requiring employers to provide employees a written description of every quota they are expected to meet. It also gives workers the right to request their personal work speed data if they feel their rights under AB 701 have been violated, and the law prohibits employers from taking any adverse action against an employee for failing to meet a quota for which the employee was not provided a written description. 

Additionally, AB 701 prohibits employers from enforcing quotas that interfere with workplace safety regulations or employees’ ability to use the restroom or take their full meal and rest breaks.

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Media Contact: media@warehouseworkers.org

About the WWRC

The Warehouse Worker Resource Center is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3), organization founded in 2011 dedicated to improving working conditions in the warehouse industry in Southern California. We focus on education, advocacy and action to change poor working conditions in the largest warehousing hub in the country.

Despite Last Minute Attempt by Dept. of Finance to Further Delay the Protections, Board Passes the New Standard

SAN DIEGO – In a dramatic hearing of a usually obscure state board, worker after worker testified about the urgent need for protections from dangerous temperatures for people who work indoors. Following testimony and protest, the members of the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board approved the new standard unanimously. 

The vote came despite the agenda item being pulled late Wednesday evening with no public explanation. Board Chair Dave Thomas opened the meeting by acknowledging that the item had been pulled following a last minute request by the Dept. of Finance.  

Workers expressed their disappointment in testimony and called for the Board to reschedule the vote immediately – even shutting down the meeting temporarily. But then in front of a packed auditorium, the members of the Standards Board voted unanimously to pass the regulations noting that they were “doing the right thing” and if they needed to call an emergency meeting before the final deadline at the end of March they were willing. 

“We are pleased with the courage of the Standards Board today to do the right thing and vote to protect workers from rising temperatures,” said Sheheryar Kaoosji, executive director of the Warehouse Worker Resource Center. “The hottest years on record have occurred in the last ten years. That means the danger of working in high heat has become more acute in the time it has taken to finalize these standards. We hope that California can rise above corporate influence and protect the more than 15 million indoor workers in our state.” 

Prior to the passage of the new regulation, employers had a duty to address hazardous heat as part of an effective Injury and Illness Prevention Program. It is unclear at this time if the protections will be implemented by summer, a key point workers and advocates called for. 

“When it’s hot, my days are filled with worry,” said Victor Ramirez, who has worked in warehouses for 20 years. “My body feels heavier, slower, and weaker. In the warehouses I have worked, I do not always feel safe. One time when I was sweating and sweating it felt like I was drowning. I left the container where I was working and instead of helping me, managers asked me why I was resting. This indoor heat standard is incredibly important, especially because it codifies that heat is a threat to workers, and employers need to prepare for it.”

In 2016 the Warehouse Worker Resource Center supported legislation introduced by Sen. Connie Leyva that created standards for indoor workers. The legislation came after Domingo Blancas, a warehouse worker in Chino, Calif., fell ill while working on a hot summer day. He was hospitalized for several days. Cal/OSHA cited the warehouse operator and the temp agency for failing to adequately identify, evaluate, correct, or train workers on the hazards of heat exposure and heat illness. 

The California Legislature passed SB1167 and it was signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown that same year. The legislation called on the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) to draft new standards by January 2019. Six years after the law was enacted,  the Cal/OSHA Standards Board held its first hearing on the proposal and on Thursday the Standards Board voted to pass the new standard into effect. 

Warehouse workers at Amazon’s West Coast Air Freight Fulfillment Center in partnership with the Warehouse Worker Resource Center, released a report in 2022 documenting extremely high temperatures at the warehouse and discrepancies between Amazon’s temperature monitors and their own thermometers that they brought to work.  At one point workers recorded a temperature of 121 degrees in an outdoor work area.

The Warehouse Worker Resource Center alongside warehouse workers has been fighting – and winning – for protections from these dangerous conditions. A full timeline of the WWRC’s efforts is here. 

MEDIA CONTACT: media@warehouseworkers.org

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About the WWRC

The Warehouse Worker Resource Center is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3), organization founded in 2011 dedicated to improving working conditions in the warehouse industry in Southern California. The WWRC builds worker power through education, advocacy, and collective action to improve working conditions for the hundreds of thousands of warehouse workers in the Inland Region and Southern California.

Amazon warehouse workers filed a complaint with Cal/OSHA during extreme summer temperatures. Workers cited lack of shade, access to water. 

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. – In groundbreaking citations, the Division of Occupational Safety and Health, or Cal/OSHA, cited Amazon five times including two serious violations for endangering workers in the high heat. (Read the KSBD CalOSHA Heat Citations.)

Last summer, after weeks of scorching temperatures and poor safety protections, workers who are members of the Inland Empire Amazon Workers United (IEAWU) at the Amazon KSBD air hub in San Bernardino filed a complaint with the state agency. Cal/OSHA immediately opened an investigation conducting multiple on-site inspections and interviews with workers. 

Cal/OSHA substantiated the majority of workers’ concerns, finding that outdoor workers did not have adequate access to drinking water or shade nor were supervisors and employees adequately trained to keep workers safe in the heat. 

“We saw that Amazon was more concerned with loading and unloading the planes as fast as possible than with our safety,” said Regina Herrmann, who works on the ramp at the Amazon air hub. “We work out on the tarmac without enough shade and sometimes without enough water. Last summer was scary. It got so hot and we did not always have enough water to drink or time to let our bodies cool down. We sometimes had to crouch or stand under the planes for shade. We knew we had to do something before someone was seriously injured.”

In the citation, Cal/OSHA investigators wrote: “The employer utilized the shadow under the Boeing 767-300 as shade in the ramp area for employees to take their preventable cool-down rest. The employees only stand and are not able to rest and sit in a normal posture while under the aircraft for preventive cool-down rest.”

Daily temperatures in San Bernardino are increasingly over 90 and even 100°F. Last July the temperature reached as high as 106°F on July 25. Ramp workers at the San Bernardino air hub are regularly exposed to this extreme heat working outside on the tarmac, often in the blazing sun. Inside the warehouse, workers also complained about hazardous conditions with poor air circulation and very strenuous physical workloads.  

The citations come after workers with IEAWU have repeatedly called for safe working conditions from Amazon during high heat. Workers have organized multiple delegations to Amazon management to demand better protections for their safety, including shaded areas with seating for everyone working outside, consistent heat break practices, and the right to take preventative cool-down breaks as needed. In 2021, IEAWU documented extremely high temperatures at KSBD and demanded better protections. They won some improvements, including new break areas and fans in some indoor areas, but after seeing inconsistencies and dangerous conditions during the recent heat wave, workers are taking action again to protect themselves. 

“It takes a tremendous amount of courage to stand up to a company as large and as powerful as Amazon. Workers in San Bernardino did that and they won,” said Tim Shadix, attorney and legal director of the Warehouse Worker Resource Center, which assisted the workers with the complaint. “Their actions will have a positive impact on the health and safety of thousands more people, “On its own Amazon was failing to provide these basic protections for workers against the heat, but workers at the air hub used their power to hold this behemoth accountable.” 

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Media Contact: media@warehouseworkers.org

About the WWRC

The Warehouse Worker Resource Center is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3), organization founded in 2011 dedicated to improving working conditions in the warehouse industry in Southern California. We focus on education, advocacy and action to change poor working conditions in the largest warehousing hub in the country.

Employees of La Mina De Oro Should Contact the State Labor Commissioner’s Office to Reclaim Wages Owed 

Ontario, Calif.—One hundred and seven warehouse and retail workers won a $1 million settlement against La Mina De Oro Inc. and related businesses for wage theft violations. 

“For a long time I worked in a perfume company in the Inland Empire,” said Erlinda Vital Romo, one of the impacted workers. “I felt powerless that I couldn’t do anything and seeing so much abuse, but the day came that I left and I said this cannot continue, I have to speak up. And I did.” 

Vital Romo and other workers from La Mina de Oro came to the Warehouse Worker Resource Center and the WWRC assisted some workers with individual claims and referred the broader wage violations to the California Labor Commissioner’s (LCO) Bureau of Field Enforcement (BOFE).  

Workers who worked at La Mina de Oro, KD Distributors, or related entities from August 1, 2014 to September 30, 2016, should contact the LCO at 833-LCO-INFO (833-526-4636), as they may be entitled to owed wages and compensation under this settlement agreement. 

The Labor Commissioner’s Office is distributing checks to workers who worked at La Mina de Oro, Inc. or related entities KD Distributors, Inc., and Desire Fragrances Inc. from August 1, 2014 to September 30, 2016. 

The LCO found that workers at La Mina de Oro were not paid for all of the hours that they worked. They were not paid overtime after eight hours in a day but only after 40 hours in a week. Workers also reported having to be ready to serve customers during their rest breaks and meal breaks, could not leave the location where they worked, and received wage statements that did not reflect the required information such as overtime for more than eight hours in a day or late meal-periods.

Citations were issued to La Mina de Oro and related entities on February 24, 2021 and a second citation was issued on May 18, 2021. The citations included failure to pay all contract wages, failure to pay final wages and failure to provide wage statements that complied with the Labor Code. 

Media Contact: media@warehouseworkers.org

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About the WWRC

The Warehouse Worker Resource Center is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3), organization founded in 2011 dedicated to improving working conditions in the warehouse industry in Southern California. We focus on education, advocacy and action to change poor working conditions in the largest warehousing hub in the country.