NEWS: Sanders Releases Report Documenting the Outrageous Level of Corporate Greed at Amazon

WASHINGTON, July 16 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Chairman of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released an interim report yesterday as part of the sweeping investigation he launched into Amazon’s unacceptable corporate greed and abysmal workplace safety practices.

As part of this report, Sanders is making public, for the first time, internal company data showing that almost half of all warehouse workers at Amazon – the second largest corporation in America worth over $2 trillion – suffered injuries during Prime Day week in 2019.

“The incredibly dangerous working conditions at Amazon revealed in this investigation are a perfect example of the type of corporate greed that the American people are sick and tired of,” said Chairman Sanders. “Despite making $36 billion in profits last year and providing its CEO with over $275 million in compensation over the past three years, Amazon continues to treat its workers as disposable and with complete contempt for their safety and wellbeing. That is unacceptable and that has got to change. Amazon must be held accountable for the horrendous working conditions at its warehouses and substantially reduce its injury rates.”

Internal Amazon documents released in this report show that Amazon’s total injury rate, which includes injuries that the company is not required to disclose to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), was nearly 45 injuries per 100 workers during the week of Prime Day in 2019. Its rate of “recordable” injuries – injuries the company is required to disclose to OSHA – was more than double the industry average, with over 10 injuries per 100 workers during that same period.

This report draws on the HELP Committee Majority Staff’s interviews with more than 100 Amazon workers over the course of the investigation. It details those workers’ experiences in Amazon’s warehouses, including the pressure they face to meet demand during Prime Day and the holiday season, and demonstrates the company’s blatant disregard for the safety of its workers.

This report outlines how the company’s documented history of medical mismanagement and under-recording of injuries suggest that even this staggeringly high rate of recordable injuries is less than the true number of serious injuries that workers sustain on the job. The report cites OSHA documentation of Amazon’s pattern of providing on-site first aid to injured workers – even seriously injured workers – instead of referring those workers to outside medical providers for needed care. It also notes that OSHA has cited Amazon for failing to properly record injuries based on federal or state record keeping regulations in at least 20 facilities since 2019.

This report also demonstrates that Amazon is aware of an understaffing problem at its warehouses, including during Prime Day – meaning during these periods, workers are expected to work even harder, for longer hours, without the appropriate amount of support for that workload. This understaffing increases the already unacceptable risk of injuries for Amazon workers.

On July 16 and 17 of 2024, Amazon is holding its annual Prime Day event, where it discounts products for Amazon Prime subscribers. The event is a major source of revenue for the company. In 2023, Amazon recorded $12.7 billion in sales for 375 million products over two days.

Read the full interim report, HERE.