Amazon employees in Southern California walked off the job Monday, saying they were working in hot conditions and needed a pay raise.
“We’ve been organizing for a $5 pay increase, safe working conditions, and an end to retaliation at the KSBD warehouse. Our demands have been ignored by Amazon, and we’ve had enough,” wrote Inland Empire Amazon Workers United in a Facebook post. “So today, 160 of us walked off the job. Learn more & support our efforts as we organize to make our workplaces safer, fairer, and better! #IEAmazonWorkers.”
The employees work at the San Bernardino International Airport, Amazon’s largest air freight facility on the West Coast. The city is 65 miles east of Los Angeles in a multi-city area dubbed the Inland Empire.
Families who cannot afford to live in Los Angeles or Orange County have dramatically lower costs there, but the trade-off is hot summers in which temperatures soar above 100 degrees.
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Amazon employees said work areas were at least 95 degrees in July. The facility is the largest private sector employer in the area.
“Working in the heat feels like you are suffocating,” employee Melissa Ojeda told the Los Angeles Times. “You need to take breaks and you can overheat really easily. They don’t make it easy to take breaks to allow your body to cool down.”
Employees also said they cannot afford to live in Southern California on the wages they earn, which is $17 an hour. Working 40-hour weeks, they take home $2,200 a month, which is enough to cover rent but barely anything else. The average rent in San Bernardino is $1,650 a month.
“We can barely afford to live in today’s economy,” the union said in a petition to management.
Another employee told the Times that Amazon intentionally avoids delivering a higher work standard.
“A warehouse is just a warehouse. A company is just a company. The people are what makes it all work, and we are strong and united to fight for what we deserve,” Sara Fee said.
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An Amazon spokesperson did not address the heat situation but inferred in a statement that employee salaries are adequate.
“We are proud to provide full-time employees at our San Bernardino Air Hub and throughout the region a minimum starting wage of $17 an hour,” spokesperson Paul Flaningan said. “Depending on their shift, our full-time employees can earn up to $19.25 an hour and receive industry-leading benefits including healthcare from Day 1, 401(k) with 50% company match, and up to 20 weeks paid parental leave.”
