News & Commentary August 6, 2023 OSHA fines Amazon for workplace hazards

[Omaha Steve]

https://onlabor.org/august-6-2023/

By Will Ebeler

Will Ebeler is a student at Harvard Law School.

In this weekend’s news and commentary, OSHA fines Amazon for workplace hazards, UPS workers begin voting on tentative agreement, Alphabet Workers Union files unfair labor practice charge against Alphabet Inc., and recent reports explore the increasing relevance of automation for Hollywood’s actors and writers unions.

On Thursday the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration found that Amazon had violated federal workplace safety laws at a fulfillment center in New Jersey. According to OSHA, workers were required to perform tasks that ultimately caused muscular disorders and neck and back injuries. Amazon also failed to make sure employees received proper medical care when they were injured on the job. The agency recommended a $15,625 penalty—the maximum penalty for this violation. The department has 18 open investigations at Amazon locations in the United States and, according to Reuters, has assessed roughly $150,000 in fines against Amazon this year.

On Friday, UPS workers began voting on the tentative agreement that the Teamsters reached in July. Voting will continue through August 22. As John explained, last week Teamsters locals voted to endorse the tentative agreement by a 161–1 vote. Outside analysts expect workers to approve the deal. However, a group of part-time UPS drivers called “Teamsters Organize” has mobilized a “Vote No” campaign pushing for a better deal for part-time workers. The tentative agreement would raise hourly wages for part-time workers from $16.20 to $21, and Teamsters Organize is pushing for part-time hourly wages of at least $25.

Next, on Thursday, Alphabet Workers Union—the union representing Google Help workers—filed an unfair labor practice charge against Alphabet Inc. The workers were employed by a third-party vendor, Accenture Plc, but their work was focused on supporting Google, and workers said they spent most of their time working closely with Google employees. For that reason, the union alleges Google was the workers’ joint employer; the NLRB found in July that Google was the joint employer of a group of workers doing similar work. According to the union, Alphabet illegally retaliated against employees as they were trying to unionize. In June Accenture workers announced a unionizing campaign then in July, Accenture announced that it was cutting its Google Help workforce from roughly 130 to 40. The union has alleged that the layoffs are retaliation for the unionizing effort.

FULL story at link above.