Warehouse workers in US sue Amazon over Covid-19 risk

New York, June 4 (IANS) A group of Amazon warehouse workers from a facility in New York has sued the e-commerce giant allegedly for unsafe working conditions, thereby putting them and their families at risk of Covid-19 conditions, the media reported.

Three workers at Amazon’s JFK8 warehouse in New York’s Staten Island filed the lawsuit on Wednesday, CNN reported.

According to the complaint, Amazon put pressure on employees to work under unsafe conditions, even as the company built “a facade of compliance” to meet Covid-19 guidelines for workers.

Amazon has faced severe criticism from current and former employees over working conditions in warehouses even though the company has maintained that it has been very serious about worker safety all along.

In the annual shareholders meeting last week, Amazon Founder and CEO Jeff Bezos rebutted claims about Covid-19 health concerns at the warehouses, saying the ecommerce giant has taken this seriously from the very beginning.

Bezos thanked front-line warehouse and delivery employees, saying they’ve provided a “lifeline” to customers who’ve been stuck at home, reported CNBC.

Amazon has not disclosed how many workers have lost their lives due to complications from Covid-19, saying that the data would not be useful.

According to the report in CNN, the e-commerce giant has confirmed the deaths of nine employees due to Covid-19 across its facilities in the US, including one who worked at JFK8.

–IANS

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