OpEd: N.Y. Must Create Safer Workplaces at Warehouses

In an joint OpEd published in the Daily News this week, Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) President Stuart Appelbaum and Amazon Labor Union (ALU) President Connor Spence urge Governor Hochul to sign the Warehouse Worker Injury Reduction Act, which would require annual evaluations of warehouses by certified safety experts known as ergonomists, and require employers to implement plans to fix any identified hazards in order to reduce injuries including assessment for potential risks of musculoskeletal disorders — the most frequent serious debilitating injury found among workers in the warehousing industry.

"Amazon’s holiday catalog has hit mailboxes and children are circling toys that will arrive in boxes bigger than them — some even bigger than the workers who packed them for delivery," they write. "Warehouse workers are already feeling the pain having survived Amazon Prime’s two-day shopping palooza, which puts them under significant physical, mental, and emotional stress to get a rush of packages out in record time."

"Gov. Hochul can help alleviate this in part for Amazon workers by signing the Warehouse Worker Injury Reduction Act, which was passed earlier this year. We need her to lead the way just as she has before for warehouse workers. New York can alleviate so much pain for workers by implementing this simple law." Read the OpEd here!