Ex-Amazon worker speaks

This 15 July 2019 video from the USA says about itself:

‘Workers are not machines’: Amazon employees strike on Prime Day

Employees at an Amazon fulfillment center outside Minneapolis went on strike on July 15, calling on the company to improve work conditions on one of its top sales days of the year.

From Our Revolution in the USA today:

Our Revolution is partnering with Warehouse Workers for Justice to amplify the stories of under-appreciated warehouse workers and demand immediate change. Please read the story below from a former Amazon warehouse employee in Illinois, then sign our petition demanding that Jeff Bezos stop exploiting Amazon workers.

When I got my job at an Amazon warehouse in 2018, I was relieved. Earning a consistent paycheck in my town of Crest Hill, Illinois isn’t always a certainty.

But my relief didn’t last long.

After nearly a year of feeling under-appreciated as an Amazon warehouse associate, I received an automated email from Amazon informing me that I was fired. This came after I’d fallen extremely ill as a result of exposure to unsanitary conditions at the warehouse — and, despite working the late shift, doubles and taking on the responsibility of training new employees during peak season (often with no advance warning).

Since Amazon refuses to provide health insurance to warehouse associates like me, I was not only sick and unemployed, but I also lacked the necessary support to pay for the mounting pile of bills on my nightstand.

More often than not, Amazon management treats warehouse workers like emotionless drones in an assembly line — not human beings with physical limits and aspirations for advancement. I’m asking you to add your name because only together, through organized action and fierce determination, can we transform our society into one that values and respects workers’ rights.

Thanks for listening to my story,

Ken Bray
Former Amazon Warehouse Worker
Crest Hill, IL