The holidays can be a stressful time. We find ourselves scrambling to make travel plans, dwelling on what to cook when we host family and friends, and of course, squeezing in last minute holiday shopping.

Amazon, with its fast delivery times, has unsurprisingly become the go-to for shoppers this time of year. However, when you checkout, you probably aren’t thinking about the Amazon workers who are pushed to their limits and working in dangerous conditions to ensure you get your package.

You also might not know that we’re organizing to improve our workplace – and we could use your support. 

I work at an Amazon warehouse in Rock Tavern, and we are currently in what we call “peak season,” the period between Black Friday and Christmas where demand increases exponentially. Amazon is already notorious for its poor working conditions, terrible labor record and shocking injury rate. During peak season, our brutal workload becomes even more unbearable. 

To meet demand during peak season, Amazon ramps up hiring and fast tracks their training process. At my facility, a new hire will be taught how to operate a four ton machine in just two days. Close calls, in which forklifts or pallet drivers nearly crash into each other, have become a common occurrence. 

When you are operating these machines, or working at a height of up to 40 feet, the last thing you want is to have co-workers by your side who were rushed through the training process. And while Amazon is constantly hiring to meet demand and keep up with the high turnover rate, they fail to bring on enough safety leaders to make sure proper protocol is being followed. In fact, when you flag a safety issue to management, they usually shrug it off.

At my warehouse, injuries are higher than the national average. Management has yet to make any changes to address this, and it has become clear that safety is not a priority. What matters most is profit and that their employees are meeting the nearly impossible quotas every day. 
Like so many other Amazon workers, I have been injured on the job. When a heavy box fell on the back of my neck in August this year, I was directed to go to AmCare, the company’s on-site medical unit. AmCare has faced scrutiny for its failure to treat injuries and dissuading injured employees from going to their own doctors for treatment.

At AmCare, I was only given some ice and Advil. I had to speak with multiple people to figure out how to get approved for workers’ compensation. On top of this, I was berated by management, who asked me what it was that I did wrong to get injured. 

This is commonplace at my warehouse. Rather than address the safety issues that lead to injuries, or offer support and time off for recovery, managers will immediately try to exonerate themselves from any wrongdoing and look for ways to place the blame on the worker. 

Now that it’s peak season, these injuries are only increasing. 

It’s not just rising injury rates that become a concern during this time of year. During peak, Amazon requires us to work mandatory overtime to meet demand, leading to burnout. Recently, one of my co-workers worked seven days straight. I could see they were beyond exhausted, but they had a family to feed and couldn’t afford to ask for a day off. 

I have five children of my own, three of whom live at home. Despite working full time at Amazon, paying the bills is still a struggle. Meanwhile, opportunities for career advancement at Amazon are few and far between. Even as you grow your skills and take on bigger tasks, management provides little to no support to help you move up.
Along with the thousands of Amazon workers around the world who have taken a stand this year to demand better, my co-workers and I have been working to raise awareness of Amazon’s terrible labor practices. Just last month we held a rally outside our facility with support from the Teamsters and For the Many. We are calling on the company to treat us with respect, provide good wages, and make real changes to address unsafe working conditions.

New York legislators also have an opportunity to help Amazon workers by passing the Warehouse Worker Injury Reduction Act, a bill that would require Amazon to improve warehouse conditions to protect workers from injuries. The bill would also require Amazon to staff AmCare with proper medical professionals.

As a billion-dollar company, Amazon has the money and power to treat its workers better. So when you choose to shop at Amazon this holiday season, we ask that you think about the conditions we endure so that your packages arrive on time–and help support us in our fight for a better workplace.