In his first letter to Amazon shareholders, CEO Andy Jassy provided a protection of the wages and advantages the corporate offers its warehouse employees whereas additionally vowing to enhance damage charges contained in the amenities.
Jassy, who took over from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos as CEO final July, wrote the corporate has researched and created an inventory of the highest 100 “worker expertise ache factors” and is working to unravel them.
“We’re additionally enthusiastic about additional enhancing security in our success community, with a give attention to lowering strains, sprains, falls, and repetitive stress accidents,” he wrote.
The corporate is ready to face two shareholder votes subsequent month tied to office accidents. One requires an unbiased audit into the working circumstances and therapy of its warehouse employees, whereas the opposite seeks to evaluate whether or not Amazon’s insurance policies give rise to racial and gender disparities in its office damage charges. The retailer had argued towards each proposals, however U.S. securities regulators disagreed and allowed the resolutions to face.
A report launched this week by Strategic Organizing Middle, a coalition of 4 labor unions, discovered Amazon employed 33% of all U.S. warehouse employees in 2021, however was answerable for 49% of all accidents within the trade. Jassy pushed again on the report throughout an interview with CNBC Thursday morning, saying it was not correct.
He additional wrote within the shareholder letter that the corporate’s damage charges can typically be misunderstood, saying it has operations jobs that match each the “warehousing” and “courier and supply” classes.
Providing his personal information, Jassy acknowledged the corporate’s warehouse damage charges “had been slightly larger than the typical” in comparison with different warehouses, however decrease than common in comparison with Amazon’s courier and supply friends.
“This makes us about common relative to friends, however we don’t search to be common,” Jassy wrote. “We wish to be greatest at school.”
Union organizers in Staten Island, New York and Bessemer, Alabama have typically rallied employees whereas pointing to the corporate’s damage charges. The nascent Amazon Labor Union, which received the union election in Staten Island earlier this month, is now looking for to barter with the retailer for a union contract. However Amazon has rebuffed these makes an attempt and is looking for to re-do the election.
Jassy didn’t point out the union push in his letter, however mentioned the corporate provides “strong” advantages, and has elevated hourly wages prior to now few years. When requested concerning the union win in the course of the interview, he mentioned it was worker’s selection whether or not they wish to be a part of a union however believes they’re higher off not doing so.
He argued unions may decelerate change, and believes employees are higher off having direct relationships with their managers, an argument the corporate has made within the lead-up to the union elections to steer its workers to not unionize.
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