I can say from experience that working in a warehouse sucks.
You have to work long hours in the heat which, while slightly better than outdoors, is not ideal. You also complete tasks that feel incredibly menial, like folding boxes for hours on end. Working in an Amazon-controlled warehouse seems to be awful to the point of violating labor laws.
On Sept. 22, employees of a Los Angeles warehouse that serves Amazon, as well as other large retailer companies, went on strike to protest unpaid wages and overtime, dangerous working conditions that included a lack of breaks or water during the summer and retaliation by management against their efforts to organize for better working conditions.
This strike serves as a perfect example of one of the most widespread problems in the modern labor market. The employees are technically contracted by a staffing agency, said staffing agency is contracted by the warehouse operator, which in turn is under contract by Amazon and other retailer companies.
In other words, they are sub-subcontractors, which means that all of the various entities above them can claim that they have little to no power to determine or change the laborers’ pay or conditions. If this seems like a pathetic excuse to keep the average worker’s pay low in the cheapest work environment possible, then you’re right.
However, the legal framework that keeps the blame for low wages and terrible working conditions is likely to change soon. The Department of Labor has focused on improving the conditions of these workers in the past year, as it is issuing new guidance on how “contracted workers” can be misclassified as such.
Even more important is the National Labor Relations Board’s decision to expand the meaning of “joint employer,” a company that shares control of a single workforce with multiple companies, as well as determine together the basic terms and conditions of employment.
Essentially, companies the size of Amazon may now be liable for labor law violations committed by contractors and subcontractors all the way down to the staffing agency that hires these L.A. warehouse workers.
While you might not care about the working conditions of Amazon’s laborers so long as your new headphones get to you on time, think about how many IU students have been affected by this diffusion of liability.
I’ve worked in a warehouse for one of the largest textbook publishers in the nation, and have had friends who have worked at the Amazon distribution center in Indianapolis.
When you work as a college student in one of these warehouses, you go in with the end in mind — you want money in the bank, and even if the job sucks, you’re only working there for three to four months tops.
It doesn’t matter that these legally-questionable practices are being done to you, but what about the people who work there all year long?
We’ve created a system where, unless workers unionize, it is nearly impossible to get restitution.
mccinkos@indiana.edu
