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A strange news is coming out about the Amazon company’s warehouse. Here on May 16, a 24-year-old worker was asked to take an oath after a 30-minute tea break that she will not go to the toilet or even drink water until she unloads 6 trucks. According to the Indian Express report, this incident happened in one of the 5 warehouses located in Manesar, Haryana. The 24-year-old worker said, “Even if we work without any break, including lunch and tea breaks which are of 30-30 minutes, we cannot unload more than four trucks in a day.”
The employee made the allegations
The worker further said, “Just two days ago, we had vowed that we will not take breaks for water and toilet in order to improve performance and achieve targets.” He further said that senior employees also check from time to time that no one is wasting time in the toilet or other places. “Women are the most affected by this system. Since the trucks stand outside, they get hot and then women unload the goods, due to which they get tired quickly.” Let us tell you that the worker has to work 5 days a week and 10 hours a day, and the worker gets a salary of Rs 10,088 per month.
An oath is taken every day
According to a report in the Indian Express, in the last month, the “inbound team” at this warehouse has taken the oath about 8 times, especially on busy days when the workload is high. The employee further said that the “outbound team” that takes the oath is reminded of their targets every day. The outbound team takes care of the goods to be shifted/shipped out of the warehouse, while the inbound team deals with goods received from other sources.
There is no restroom
A woman working at the Manesar warehouse said there were no restrooms on the premises. “If we are sick, we have the option of going to the washroom or the locker room. There is a sick room with a bed, but the employees are asked to leave after 10 minutes,” she claimed. Her department customer returns also took the same oath. She repeated the oath, saying, “Say after me, we will achieve the target, we will not go to the washroom, we will not drink alcohol.”
She alleged that once she was caught resting in the toilet, the supervisor took a picture of her ID card and threatened to block her. This female employee is paid Rs 10,088 per month. The woman said, “I stand for 9 hours a day, and I have to look at 60 small products or 40 medium-sized products every hour.”
Amazon India spokesperson clarified
When asked about this, an Amazon India spokesperson said, “We are investigating these claims, but to be clear, we would never ask our employees to do such things. If we become aware of any such incident, as alleged, we will stop it immediately and ensure that the manager involved is retrained. We are continuing our investigation.”
allegations made earlier
This is not the first time such allegations are being made against Amazon, earlier such allegations have been made against Amazon in foreign countries as well. According to a report by The Guardian, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration in the US had issued notices against the company in 2022 and 2023 for unsafe working conditions, ergonomic hazards and not properly reporting injuries in 6 warehouses.
Labor union also made allegations
The country’s labour union has also accused the company of violating the Factories Act, 1948, in its five warehouses in and around Manesar. Since Haryana has reduced its working hours to 10 hours per day, the company’s workers now work from 8.30 am to 6.30 pm. According to the Act, if a factory worker works more than 9 hours a day or more than 48 hours a week, he is entitled to double his normal wage. However, labour rights groups claim this is not being met. The Act also stipulates rest intervals, according to which, “No employee shall work for more than 5 hours before being given an interval of at least half an hour.”
Haryana is cheaper than Delhi
Dharmendra Kumar, convener of Amazon India Workers Association, said that factories and warehouses in Haryana help reduce the company’s costs to meet the needs of customers in Delhi. He said, “The minimum wage in Delhi is Rs 21,000-23,000 while in Haryana it is Rs 11,000-13,000. This is a violation of the provisions of the Target Factory Act. Labor inspectors can ask the company to rectify this, but it is difficult to do so.” He said that the absence of a union creates these difficulties for workers.
The spokesperson gave this clarification
An Amazon spokesperson told The Indian Express that the safety and well-being of employees is the company’s priority. He added, “All our buildings have heat index monitoring devices and we constantly monitor temperature changes, especially during the summer months. If we find excessive heat or humidity inside our buildings, our teams try to provide a comfortable working environment, including temporarily shutting down work. We have cooling systems in place across all buildings, including ventilation systems, fans and spot coolers. We also take care of water and hydration, as well as provide rest breaks. Employees are free to take breaks during their shifts so they can use the toilet, get water or speak to a manager or HR.”
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