Amazon Prime Day is a major cause of injuries for warehouse workers, Senate review says

NEW YORK — Amazon’s popular Prime Day sales event has been “a major cause of injuries” for warehouse workers who pick and pack customer orders at the e-commerce giant’s facilities across the United States, according to a report released Tuesday by Sen. Bernie Sanders. The report, which draws information from a year-long Senate committee investigation into Amazon’s safety practices and relied on internal company data from 2019 and 2020, said peak shopping times – including the holiday shopping period – resulted in the “highest weekly injury rates” for warehouse workers. In a statement, Sanders said the “incredibly dangerous working conditions at Amazon” highlighted in the report are a “perfect example of the type of corporate greed that the American people are sick and tired of.” “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 well-being,” said the Vermont independent, who has been critical of Amazon and supports worker efforts to unionize at the company. “We’re required to report every injury that needs more than basic first aid, and that’s what we do.” While Amazon “might make an occasional clerical error,” a six-month federal investigation by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration found “no intentional, willful, or systemic errors” in the company’s reporting, Nantel said.