A Staten Island distribution center worker, known as JFK8, died and site officials were reported dead on Monday.
“We are deeply saddened by the loss of a spouse on our Staten Island, New York site,” Amazon spokeswoman Rachael Lighty told Fox News.
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Stuart Appelbaum, president of the Retail, Wholesale and Departmental Store Union, said death was a tragedy and blamed Amazon.
“For a long time, JFK8 staff and other Amazon amenities around the world have not been easy to run in safer conditions, especially in this pandemic,” Appelbaum said in comments received through Fox News.”Yesterday’s death unfortunately showed Amazon’s true burden.lack of supply of a secure execution environment.”
A source familiar with the stage noted that the last time the worker arrived at the warehouse was On April 5.On April 5, he showed that he had COVID-19 and remained quarantined.
The feed added that Amazon is running to update all of its workers on the site and is offering a recommendation to JFK8.com.
The Verge first reported the news.
Conditions at the Staten Island warehouse became mild after former Amazon employee Christian Smalls demanded that Jeff Bezos-led company close the distribution center for thorough cleaning after a positive COVID-19 test in mid-March.
Smalls was later fired, and Amazon told Fox News that he fired him for violating various terms of employment.
After news of Smalls’ dismissal, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio ordered an investigation into the incident.New York Attorney General Letitia James also issued a statement, saying that “it’s embarrassing,” Smalls fired after he “bravely stood up to protect himself and his colleagues.”
In April, Amazon fired two other employees, Emily Cunningham and Maren Costa, who criticized supposedly lax operating situations in their warehouses and distribution centers across the country.
Amazon’s senior vice president of global operations, Dave Clark, recently said the company was expanding the point of safety precautions it was taking at its various distribution centers, adding that it controlled its partners’ temperatures.except for the “millions of masks” commissioned weeks ago.
Bezos recently revealed that the company is operating at COVID-19 testing capability for its employees, adding those with no symptoms.
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The first known death of an Amazon occurred on March 31 in Hawthorne, California, and another died a day later in Tracy, California.
In March, an organization of four U.S. senators, along with Senator Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.And Cory Booker, DN.J., wrote a letter to Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos expressing fears about the fitness and protection of the company’s workers.Stores.
The company has taken steps for employee safety, but it remains to be seen if this is enough.
Last month, reports revealed that 30 workers at a warehouse in Carteret, New Jersey, just over 50 miles from New York City, tested positive for the new coronavirus, leading to an interview with an employee. A source close to the stage said the instances. they are not similar or connected to each other.
An Amazon spokesman told Fox News that the company began burning the facility with a disinfectant in early April.The spokesman also noted that “the mandatory social distance, temperature controls and mask that everyone can wear from arrival to departure” were in position at the facility.
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Last week, Bezos announced that Amazon would spend at least $4 billion of its expected profit for the second quarter “on COVID-related expenses to deliver products to consumers and worker safety,” adding investments in non-public protective equipment, advanced cleaning and more effective social estating, superior practices, and higher wages.
“There is a lot of uncertainty in the world right now, and the investment we can make is in protecting and well-being our thousands of employees,” Bezos wrote in the letter to shareholders.”I am sure of myself, that our long-term shareholders will perceive and take our approach and, in fact, expect no less.”
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As of Wednesday morning, more than 3.68 million cases of coronavirus have been diagnosed worldwide, adding more than 1.2 million in the United States, the most affected country in the world.
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This story has been updated to come with Amazon’s response.