Amazon Labor Union says 50 workers suspended for refusing to work in "unsafe" Staten Island warehouse after fire
CBSN
A still-unrecognized labor union for an Amazon warehouse in Staten Island, New York said early Wednesday that 50 workers at the facility were suspended by the online retail giant for staging a walkout after a fire led to unsafe work conditions. About 100 workers staged a march through the warehouse facility Monday night, demanding to be sent home with pay after the fire in a trash compactor just outside.
"It's just point-blank an unsafe work environment," JFK8 warehouse employee Leo Shockey told CBS New York after the blaze. He and other employees said the fire left the warehouse too filled with smoke to work safely.
In a statement posted to its Twitter page, JFK8's Amazon Labor Union — a grassroots group of former and current workers still battling Amazon's management for formal recognition as a union — said management had suspended "over 50 workers who were involved in last night's walkout."
