Even though COVID-19 has impacted several businesses and has caused tremendous job losses, there are still big corporations that are thriving during this time. An example of this is Amazon. Amazon flourished during this pandemic due to people not being able to leave their homes. Since grocery stores were low on supplies, people would look for essentials and other goods on Amazon. According to CNBC, Amazon hit record sales during the second quarter of COVID-19. We see this business is able to easily overcome the pandemic, and that they were making more than ever during this time. If Amazon is doing so well during this pandemic, then why are their workers being treated so badly?
According to Forbes, there have been several reports of Amazon warehouses with unsafe and poor working conditions. The workers are allowed two 15 minute breaks instead of one 30 minute break. In a Guardian article, an employee also speaks about the high injury rate at the Amazon warehouse they work at. When they complained, Amazon’s only response was to put videos around the warehouse to show that they prioritize their workers’ safety. After that, the employee states that they did not take more steps to actually ensure the safety of their workers. Employees also felt that Amazon did not take enough precautions to keep their workers safe from COVID-19. Even though the company stated they took precautions, there are still COVID-19 cases that happen in their warehouses. According to CNBC, at least 8 Amazon employees have died from COVID-19.
When looking at these working conditions and looking at the amount of money Amazon makes, there should be no reason that the working conditions are this bad. They have enough money to give workers better conditions and to treat their workers better. Amazon is just one example of a giant corporation that treats its workers horribly. There are several more corporations like this, that only care about making money. They do not take a moment to think about what it is like to work in their company as a delivery driver or as a person that works in their warehouses. These companies keep implementing “procedures to create safer work environments” when in reality they are implementing procedures that make it look like they have a safe work environment.
The saddest part is that this is not only happening in America, there are corporations around the world who set up their factories and warehouses in other countries. There they pay workers the bare minimum and do not even try to treat their workers right. The worst thing about these companies is the fact that you have to implement laws just to get them to treat their workers right. If we did not have laws in the place where companies need to give their workers break time, sick leave, and more, there would probably be a lot of businesses that would take advantage of that. I think that business owners should be considerate of their workers and do their best to create safe and humane working conditions for them.
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