WASHINGTON, DC - Today, the Senate Labor Committee released a report endorsing Senator Tina Smith's (D-MN) legislation to end dangerous quota systems at Amazon warehouses. The report detailed Amazon's mistreatment of warehouse workers under the corporation's productivity quota system. The report analyzed Amazon's data and found that Amazon warehouses recorded over 30 percent more injuries than the warehousing industry average in 2023. More than two-thirds of Amazon's warehouses have injury rates that exceed the industry average. Minnesota is home to five Amazon warehouses, which have previously been reported for mistreatment of its workers.

The first listed solution in the report is bipartisan legislation spearheaded by Senator Tina Smith (D-MN), Ed Markey (D-MA), Josh Hawley (R-MO), Bob Casey (D-PA) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH), the Warehouse Worker Protection Act, which would prohibit dangerous quota systems like Amazon's, cited in Senate report.

"This report highlights what we've already been hearing: Amazon's quota system is pushing workers past their limits and is causing a high number of injuries among warehouse workers," said Senator Smith. "The momentum to protect workers is growing. These big companies hold a lot of power. They are literally controlling the lives of workers minute by minute with their productivity metrics and quotas. We need to heed the calls of the report and pass the bipartisan Warehouse Worker Protection Act."

The bipartisan Warehouse Worker Protection Act would protect warehouse workers by prohibiting dangerous work speed quotas that lead to high rates of worker injuries. The legislation as re-introduced includes new enforcement authority for the Federal Trade Commission, as well as an exemption for small businesses.

The legislation is cosponsored by Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Peter Welch (D-VT), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Laphonza Butler (D-CA).

The Warehouse Worker Protection Act is endorsed by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the United Food and Commercial Workers, the National Employment Law Project (NELP), the Athena Coalition, and Oxfam America.

A copy of the legislation can be found HERE.

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