Amazon has been blasted for running a “sweatshop” while its boss blows billions on space travel.
Eight out of 10 callers to a confidential Unite union phoneline believe the retail giant does not care about their mental or physical health, according to the union.
Seven out of 10 said the pressure of unreasonable production targets was too much and two out of three feared they would not get time off in a family emergency.
Shifts of up to five standing hours in anti-Covid masks at overheated distribution centres were among common complaints.
Amazon workers also claimed they were walked to and from breaks for meals and the toilet. And delivery drivers made claims of using bottles in their cabs to relieve themselves because schedules were too tight to allow proper toilet breaks.
Yet boss Jeff Bezos, the world’s richest man with a £196billion fortune, is funding a project to put the first tourist flights into space.
Unite’s Sharon Graham said: “Anyone who reads the testimony can see that there has to be a reckoning with Amazon. While Jeff Bezos is exploring space, he is leaving behind one of the greatest company sweatshop regimes this world has ever known.”
Ms Graham, who is standing to replace the union’s general secretary, Len McCluskey, in September, added: “Amazon workers desperately need a union to free them from this Charles Dickens toxic working culture of stress, ill health and daily indignities.”
Unite is to keep its hotline open to collect more staff testimony.
An Amazon spokesman denied workers are escorted to meal and toilet breaks and said they do have access to compassionate leave. adding: “Our critics seem determined to paint a false picture of what it’s like to work for Amazon.
“The fact is, we offer excellent pay, excellent benefits and excellent opportunities for career growth, all while working in a safe, modern work environment. The unions know this.”
