Ambulances wait outside Amazon warehouse

ALLENTOWN, Pa. – Elmer Goris spent a year working in Amazon.com Inc.’s warehouse in Pennsylvania’s LeHigh Valley, where books, CDs and various other products are packed and shipped to customers who order from the world’s largest online retailer.

The 34-year-old Allentown resident, who has worked in warehouses for more than 10 years, said he quit in July because he was frustrated with the heat and demands that he work mandatory overtime. Working conditions at the warehouse got worse earlier this year, especially during summer heat waves when heat in the warehouse soared above 100 degrees, he said.

He got light-headed, he said, and his legs cramped, symptoms he never experienced in previous warehouse jobs. One hot day, Goris said, he saw a co-worker pass out at the water fountain. On other hot days, he saw paramedics bring people out of the warehouse in wheelchairs and on stretchers.

“They can do that because there aren’t any jobs in the area,” Goris said.

In the past two months, The Morning Call interviewed 20 current and former warehouse workers who showed pay stubs, tax forms or other proof of employment. They offered a behind-the-scenes glimpse of what it’s like to work in the Amazon warehouse, where temperatures soar on hot summer days, production rates are difficult to achieve and the permanent jobs sought by many temporary workers hired by an outside agency are tough to get.

An emergency room doctor in June called federal regulators to report an “unsafe environment” after he treated several Amazon warehouse workers for heat-related problems. The doctor’s report was echoed by warehouse workers who also complained to regulators.

Workers interviewed by The Morning Call said they experienced brutal heat inside the warehouse and were pushed to work at a pace many could not sustain. Employees were reprimanded regarding their productivity and threatened with termination, workers said. The consequences of not meeting work expectations were regularly on display, as employees lost their jobs and got escorted out of the warehouse. Such sights encouraged some workers to conceal pain lest they get fired as well, workers said.

During summer heat waves, Amazon arranged to have paramedics parked in ambulances outside, ready to treat any workers who dehydrated or suffered other forms of heat stress. Those who couldn’t cool off and return to work were sent home or taken out in stretchers and wheelchairs and transported to area hospitals. And new applicants were ready to begin work at any time.

In a better economy, not as many people would line up for jobs that pay $11 or $12 an hour moving inventory through a hot warehouse. But with job openings scarce, Amazon and Integrity Staffing Solutions, the temporary employment firm that is hiring workers for Amazon, have found eager applicants in the swollen ranks of the unemployed.

Many warehouse workers are hired for temporary positions by Integrity Staffing Solutions, or ISS, and are told that if they work hard they may be converted to permanent positions with Amazon, current and former employees said. The temporary assignments end after a designated number of hours, and those not hired to permanent Amazon jobs can reapply for temporary positions again after a few months, workers said.

Temporary employees interviewed said few people in their working groups actually made it to a permanent Amazon position. Instead, they said they were pushed harder and harder to work faster and faster until they were terminated, they quit or they got injured. Those interviewed say turnover at the warehouse is high and many hires don’t last more than a few months.

The Morning Call forwarded concerns of workers to Amazon. The company didn’t answer specific questions the turnover rate or the working conditions. Instead, Amazon spokeswoman Michele Glisson emailed a statement, which she attributed to Vickie Mortimer, general manager at the Upper Macungie, Pa., warehouse.

“The safety and welfare of our employees is our No. 1 priority at Amazon, and as the general manager, I take that responsibility seriously,” the statement said. “We go to great lengths to ensure a safe work environment, with activities that include free water, snacks, extra fans and cooled air during the summer. I am grateful to work with such a fantastic group of employees from our community, and we partner with them every day to make sure our facility is a great place to work.”

Warehouse workers said Amazon and ISS both emphasized safety measures and passed out fruit and water on hot summer days when the warehouse got warm.

The supply of temporary workers keeps Amazon’s warehouse fully staffed without the expense of a permanent work force. Using temporary employees in general also helps reduce the prospect that employees will organize a union that pushes for better treatment because the employees are in constant flux, labor experts say. And Amazon limits its liability for workers’ compensation and unemployment insurance because most of the workers work for the temp agency, rather than Amazon.

“We strive to offer our customers the lowest prices possible through low everyday product pricing and free shipping offers ... and to improve our operating efficiencies so that we can continue to lower prices for our customers,” Amazon says about itself in documents filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The situation highlights how companies like Amazon can wield their significant leverage over workers in the bleak job market, labor experts say.

“They can get away with it because most workers will take whatever they can get with jobs few and far between,” said Catherine Ruckelshaus, legal co-director of the National Employment Law Project, an advocacy group for low-wage workers. “The temp worker is less likely to complain about it and less likely to push for their labor rights because they feel like they don’t have much pull or sway with the worksite employer.”

Amazon warehouse workers’ accounts stand in sharp contrast to the “fun, fast-paced” atmosphere described in online help wanted ads for the Amazon warehouse. Amazon and ISS both said they take the safety of workers seriously, but declined to discuss specific concerns current and former employees voiced to The Morning Call. Of the workers voicing concerns, 13 were employed by ISS and seven directly by Amazon.

THE SYSTEM

Amazon has two warehouses in Breinigsville, Pa., where work is done that few customers ever see. Workers on the receiving side unload trucks and unpack boxes of incoming inventory, which they store in bins throughout the warehouses. On the outbound side, pickers scurry through the aisles gathering products from storage bins and bringing them to packers, who box them and ship them to customers.

Both permanent and temporary employees are subject to a point-based disciplinary system. Employees accumulate points for such infractions as missing work, not working fast enough or breaking a safety rule, such as keeping two hands on an inventory cart. If they get too many points, they can be fired. In the event of illness, employees have to bring in a doctor’s note and request a medical waiver to have their disciplinary points removed, those interviewed said.

Not working fast enough, or failing to “make rate,” is a common reason employees get disciplinary points, those interviewed said. Workers are expected to maintain a rate, measured in units per hour, which varies depending on the job and the size of inventory being handled. Products moving through the warehouse range broadly in size, from compact discs and iPods to chain saws. Workers use hand-held scanners to track inventory as it moves through the warehouse, which enables managers to monitor productivity minute by minute, employees said.

Allentown resident Robert Rivas, 38, said he left his permanent Amazon warehouse job after about 13 months to take another job. Rivas said he received Amazon email notifications at his work station when employees needed assistance due to heat-related symptoms. He estimated he received between 20 and 30 such emails within a two-hour period one day. Some people pushed themselves to work in the heat because they did not want to get disciplinary points, he said.

“When the heat index exceeded 110, they’d give you voluntary time off,” Rivas said. “If you wanted to go home, they’d send you home. But if you didn’t have a doctor’s note saying you couldn’t work in the heat, you’d get points.”

Some workers interviewed said that policy has changed.

OSHA RECORDS

On June 2, a warehouse employee contacted OSHA to report the heat index hit 102 degrees in the warehouse and 15 workers collapsed. The employee also complained that workers who had to go home due to heat symptoms received disciplinary points. On June 3, OSHA told Amazon warehouse managers that the agency received a complaint about heat. OSHA officials said they did not plan to inspect the warehouse at that time, but wanted Amazon to investigate the situation, make any modifications needed to increase worker safety and report back to OSHA about its findings no later than June 13.

OSHA later inspected the warehouse on June 9.

On June 10, an OSHA worker heard the following message on the agency’s complaint hotline from an emergency room doctor at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest: “I’d like to report an unsafe environment with a(n) Amazon facility in Fogelsville (Pa.) ... Several patients have come in the last couple days with heat-related injuries.”

On June 13, OSHA received a letter from Allen Forney, Amazon’s site safety manager.

“On June 3, 2011, the Lehigh Valley area experienced unusual, extremely high temperatures which caused the heat index inside our building to reach a temperature above 95 degrees in a few areas of the building,” Forney wrote. “As a result of these high temperatures, 15 out of 1,600 employees experienced heat-related symptoms. Six of these employees were treated at a local hospital ER for non-work related medical conditions triggered by the heat. None of those employees was admitted to the hospital; each employee was treated and released the same day. The other employees received water and ice treatment ... by our facility’s first-aid department. All employees returned to work the same day.”

Forney wrote the warehouse had measures in place to manage heat risk prior to OSHA’s inspection. Those measures included heat index sensors installed throughout the building in March that notify warehouse managers when the index exceeds 90 degrees, he wrote. Fans are installed throughout the building and louver doors provide ventilation, he wrote.

Amazon purchased 2,000 cooling bandannas, which were given to every employee, and those in the dock/trailer yard received cooling vests, Forney said. Managers walk the building to make sure employees get enough water and to watch for heat-related symptoms, he said.

Workers “typically” get breaks extended by five minutes when temperatures range between 90 and 99 degrees, Forney wrote. When the heat index ranges from 100 to 114 degrees, Amazon “typically” gives hourly breaks of at least five minutes and shifts heavier work to cooler times of the day, Forney said.

Amazon workers interviewed for this story said they typically had one 15-minute break before lunch and another 15-minute break after lunch each 10-hour shift.

Forney wrote in a letter to OSHA that if the index hits 115 degrees, “the senior manager on duty will decide whether to close down the entire shift.”

Since the OSHA inspection, Amazon installed 13 additional fans in the warehouse, planned to install a cooling system and temporarily hired emergency medical personnel to work on-site, Forney wrote.

No employees were penalized for leaving work early due to heat-related symptoms, Forney wrote. Amazon has an automatic record-keeping system that gives employees demerits if they leave early, he wrote.

Amazon and ISS workers said that policy changed earlier this year about the same time OSHA began asking questions, though precisely when the policy changed is not clear. When heat is excessive, workers can now go home early without pay and it won’t jeopardize their jobs. HA issued recommendations to Amazon on Aug. 18 about how it could improve its heat-stress management plan and closed its inspection.

Workers said Amazon has installed cooling units and fans since the inspection, but the equipment doesn’t keep upper warehouse levels cool on hot summer days. They said they received extra break time when it was hot, but production rates were not reduced.

Ambulances responded to multiple medical assistance calls at the Amazon warehouse during hot days in May. So Amazon paid Cetronia Ambulance Corps to have ambulances and paramedics stationed at its two adjacent warehouses during five days of excessive heat in June and July.

ILLNESS ON THE JOB

Karen Salasky, 44, was out of work for two years after getting laid off from a secretary job with a homebuilder. The Bethlehem resident got a postcard from ISS saying it was hiring people to work at the Amazon warehouse, so she applied.

“At first, I loved it,” she said. “I started in November. We worked 11-hour days because of Christmas. It was hard, but I pushed myself and I got used to it.”

Salasky had worked as a waitress, so she didn’t mind being on her feet all day. And she enjoyed the walking, which she considered good exercise. But she said she grew frustrated when she received a warning letter in March from a manager stating she had been unproductive during several minutes of her shift. Salasky said she was working as hard as she could, and she declined to sign the warning letter.

She wrote a letter to Amazon’s human resources manager at the Breinigsville warehouse about the working conditions, saying sometimes minutes go unaccounted for in the system because workers use the restroom, their scanners stop working and they have to log back into the system, aisles get crowded requiring workers to take longer routes to retrieve inventory, or workers move at a slower pace if they are not feeling well. Salasky invited the human resources manager to contact her about the concerns. She said she never received a response.

When the weather got hot in May, Salasky said, her work pace dropped, which prompted questions from supervisors. “They asked me why my rates were dropping, and I said, ‘My rates are dropping because it’s hot and I have asthma.’”

Salasky said she would cry herself to sleep at night. Salasky said she informed ISS and Amazon that she was not interested in a permanent position, but wanted to complete her 1,200-hour temporary term.

One hot day in June, Salasky said, she wasn’t feeling well. She went to the restroom. An ISS manager asked if she was OK, and she said no. She was taken by wheelchair to an air-conditioned room, where paramedics examined her while managers asked questions and took notes.

“I was really upset and I said, ‘All you people care about is the rates, not the well-being of the people,’” she said. “I’ve never worked for an employer that had paramedics waiting outside for people to drop because of the extreme heat.”

Supervisors told Salasky to go home and rest. She reported to an ISS office the next day to drop off medical paperwork, and she was asked to sign papers acknowledging she got irate and used a curse word on the day she suffered from the heat. She refused to sign the papers because she said she didn’t curse. A few days later, she called ISS and found out her assignment had been terminated.

“I don’t know how they can treat people this way,” Salasky said.