Warehouse Worker Resource Center

Improving working conditions in the warehouse industry in Southern California

Reports

Key Research and Reports

Academics and think tanks have been tracking the rise of Amazon and the warehousing industry in Southern California and across the country.

Extreme Heat at Amazon Air
High temperatures and extreme heat are dangerous and life-threatening. These conditions at work, especially in a physically intensive work environment, are particularly dangerous. Over the summer, at least half a dozen workers documented heat illness at KSBD, Amazon’s West Coast Air Freight Fulfillment Center, and as temperatures soared into the 90s and 100s, the workers at KSBD formulated their demands and directly approached Amazon warehouse management on Aug. 31 and Sept. 2 to win protections from extreme heat. Then workers representing every department at the facility took thermometers to work for seven days and recorded the temperatures throughout the day. At one point, on Sept. 4, workers recorded a temperature of 121 degrees in an outdoor work area.
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Disturbing Injury Rates at Amazon Facilities
An analysis of Amazon injury records shows that injury rates at its facilities increased by a staggering 20 percent from 2020 to 2021. The report finds Amazon warehouse workers were seriously injured at twice the rate of other warehouse employers at 6.8 per 100 workers, as compared to 3.3 per 100 for all other employers in the warehouse industry. A review of California-specific data shows that injury rates in California increased 30 percent, to a rate that was over 60% higher than the rate of injuries at other warehouse companies in the state (Strategic Organizing Center).
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Amazon’s Disposable Workforce
High turnover is the norm at Amazon facilities. An analysis of California county-level census data shows that when Amazon opens a fulfillment center, warehouse worker turnover in that county skyrockets (National Employment Law Project).
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Map: Massive Warehouse Growth in the Inland Empire
Researchers at Pitzer College have mapped warehouse growth in the Inland Empire over the last ten years. Their interactive map documents the rapid growth that is now more than a billion square feet of warehouses (Redford Conservancy, Pitzer College).
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Public Health Crisis at Amazon
Amazon’s policies have created a public health crisis for workers These policies create unsafe working environments that cause frequent injuries and chronic stress among workers, along with economic insecurity due to frequent firings and injury-related job displacement (Human impact Partners).
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Documenting Amazon Workplace Injuries
Some of the most troubling accounts of Amazon’s health and safety practices are found in the company’s own internal documents. Packaging Pain relies on data from OSHA 300 and 300A logs collected from Amazon warehouses around the country to develop a systematic understanding of health and safety performance at the company’s facilities and identify solutions for making these workplaces safer for workers. Amazon’s own internal data paints a very troubling picture about what is happening inside the company’s fulfillment centers (NELP).
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Mapping Amazon
Amazon has grown its domestic infrastructure since 1997 largely due to public subsidies. State and local governments in the United States have already awarded almost $3 billion (and more that is hidden) in economic development subsidies to Amazon. The greatest number of deals have been awarded to the company for its warehouses - particularly the so-called fulfillment centers (Good Jobs First).
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