Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
New York Attorney General Launches Probe Into Firing Of Amazon Warehouse Worker
NPR: Amazon Warehouse Safety 'Inadequate,' N.Y. Attorney General's Office Says
In a letter to Amazon obtained by NPR, the office of New York's top lawyer Letitia James says the company may have also broken the state's whistleblower laws for firing a warehouse worker who helped organize a protest in Staten Island. "While we continue to investigate, the information so far available to us raises concerns that Amazon's health and safety measures taken in response to the COVID-19 pandemic are so inadequate that they may violate several provisions of the Occupational Safety and Health Act" and other federal and state guidelines, James's staff wrote in the letter, dated April 22. (Selyukh, 4/27)
The New York Times: New York Attorney General Scrutinizes Amazon For Firing Warehouse Worker
Amazon has been under pressure for the safety of its hundreds of thousands of workers who are packing and shipping products to millions of homebound Americans in the pandemic. The company has rolled out various safety measures at its warehouses across the country, such as temperature checks and mandatory masks, but it has faced protests at several facilities from employees who have said they feel unsafe. As of early April, workers at more than 50 of its warehouses in the United States had contracted the coronavirus. The case that Ms. James’s office has been looking into involves Christopher Smalls, an employee in Amazon’s Staten Island warehouse. In late March, Mr. Smalls agitated for more worker protections at the facility as co-workers began getting sick. On March 28, Amazon put Mr. Smalls on quarantine for being in contact with a worker who had contracted the coronavirus. (Weise, 4/27)
In other news on workers and safety —
The New York Times: They’re Still Working At The Airports, And They’re Scared
Since the coronavirus outbreak began, dozens of workers from the three major airports in the New York City area have been infected, and at least 17 have died, union officials said. Those still on the job are afraid they could be next. Most of the workers earn less than $20 an hour and do not have health insurance, because the cost of the coverage was more than they could afford on their salaries, they say. (McGeehan, 4/28)
The New York Times: Fired In A Pandemic ‘Because We Tried To Start A Union,’ Workers Say
Truck drivers and warehouse workers at Cort Furniture Rental in New Jersey had spent months trying to unionize in the hopes of securing higher wages and better benefits. By early this year, they thought they were on the cusp of success. But when the coronavirus arrived, Cort, which is owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, laid off its truck drivers and replaced them with contractors, workers said. The union-organizing plans were dashed. (Silver-Greenberg and Abrams, 4/28)
