Angry Amazon staff fear colleagues are coming to work sick and have little protection as workers at 11 sites fall ill – amid claims the company is refusing to dole out sick pay just weeks after boss Jeff Bezos pocketed $3.4billion by selling stock
Amazon staff say they are struggling to access sick pay and fear colleagues are coming to work ill - as they paint a grim picture of coronavirus protections inside warehouses where 'everything has been touched by 1,000 hands.'
It comes after infections were reported at 11 of the company's sites across America - including its biggest fulfillment center in California - but most of them remained open for business.
Amazon has increased pay and offered sick leave to anyone who has tested positive for coronavirus, but critics accuse the $1trillion company and owner Jeff Bezos of failing to do enough - just weeks after he pocketed $3.4billion by selling stock.
There are fears that outbreaks at the company's fulfillment centers could help spread the virus, after a study revealed that the coronavirus can survive for up to 24 hours on cardboard - which Amazon uses for the majority of its packaging.
Workers at Amazon's warehouses have warned that workers are likely going in despite being ill because of problems accessing the company's new sick pay
One warehouse worker in her 20s from California, who wished to remain anonymous, spoke of hear fears in an interview with Medium.
aShe said: 'We have work gloves and hand sanitizer but nothing else to protect us from the coronavirus.
'Everything has been touched by 1,000 hands: Hands at the manufacturer, the distributor, the docks, the trucks; hands making up the pallets.
'Then I pick up each item and put it on my pod, and that pod goes to other sets of hands: the pickers, the packers, the shippers.
'We move fast, and we sweat when we work. The warehouse has no air circulation. One sneeze particle, and it’s just caught inside. What if my whole department, my whole warehouse, gets sick?'
She said orders have sky-rocketed during the outbreak, as people who would typically shop at local stores turn to Amazon while isolating in their houses.
Owner Jeff Bezos - who cashed out $3.4bn in stock earlier this year - has been accused of not doing enough to help
While all non-essential orders are being side-lined, she said bulk orders of nappies, sanitising products and other items have hit record levels.
Explaining the toll on staff, she added: 'Even though they’re exhausted, lots of people are going to keep working.
'I would assume someone who really needs the pay would probably come even if they’re ill.'
In total, infections have been either confirmed or reported at 11 Amazon sites - including in New York, New Jersey, Illinois, Florida, California, Kentucky, Michigan, Oklahoma, Kentucky and Connecticut.
But just two sites - one in Queens and the other in Shepherdsville - have been closed. The latter warehouse was only shut after staff protested.
Multiple workers told The Atlantic that they have been struggling to access sick pay that Amazon is now offering.
The company previously offered zero sick pay, but now says employees who have been diagnosed with the virus and those in quarantine will be paid for two weeks.
However, a lack of testing in most states means that people are struggling to get a confirmed diagnosis despite having tell-tale symptoms.
Others said that only those being ordered to quarantine by the company - as opposed to customs officials or their own doctors - are being paid.
Christian Zamarron, a warehouse worker from Chicago, said he was told to self-isolate by an official at O'Hare Airport last week after returning from Spain - one of Europe's hardest-hit countries.
This Amazon warehouse in Shepherdsville, Kentucky, on Wednesday was closed after three workers tested positive for the coronavirus
But, when it came to accessing sick leave pay, Zamarron was told he only qualified for unpaid leave. After being contacted by The Atlantic, Zamarron said he was paid.
Nicole Jackson, another Chicago worker, said she has been off work since March 9 after coming down with a cough, fever and shortness of breath - three of the most common symptoms of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coroanvirus.
But because she was unable to get a test to confirm the diagnosis, she was told she did not qualify for leave. She was also paid after the story was published.
Amazon is offering employees unlimited unpaid time off until the end of March without losing their jobs, but many workers say they cannot afford to go without a paycheck for that long.
Meanwhile Amazon's founder - world's richest man Jeff Bezos - made $3.4billion selling shares of the company in February, just before the market tanked as coronavirus infections soared.
The sale saved Bezos a staggering $317million, compared to him keeping the stock through to March 20.
It also meant the billionaire sold as much stock in that one week as he has in the last year, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The US now has the most coronavirus cases of anywhere in the world at more than 86,000
Infections have been following an exponential growth curve, meaning that cases have roughly doubled every three day
The sale accounted for around 3% of Bezos's total Amazon shares, and made up over a third of all stock exchange sales during this timeframe.
The United States now has the most coronavirus cases in the world with more than 86,000 confirmed infections after overtaking both China and Italy as the global pandemic continues to spread.
Italy was set to pass China's more than 81,000 infections later on Friday. The US, Italy and China now account for almost half of the world's 540,000 infections and more than half of the virus deaths.
With 1,200 deaths from the disease, the US is still some way behind hardest-hit Italy where almost 7,000 people have been killed.
Disease experts have warned the American death toll could eventually top 80,000 even if people adhere to social distancing. The World Health Organisation had predicted this week that the US was likely to overtake Europe as the new epicenter of the disease.
Amazon says it has developed a range of measures to protect staff from the outbreak - including placing benches 6ft apart and separating out microwaves in communal areas.
Hand sanitizer and gloves have also been distributed to employees.
