Only 21% Amazon workers in India say work environment is safe: Report

Ecommerce firm denies UNI Global Union's survey that claimed company sets difficult targets for warehouse workers and drivers

Only one out of five Amazon warehouse workers and drivers in India finds the work environment safe, said a report by the UNI Global Union on Wednesday, prompting the ecommerce firm to deny its claims.  

The report by the global union federation for the services industries comes weeks after media reports of dangerous working conditions at Amazon warehouses in and around Delhi NCR during last month’s heatwave.

“Only 21.3 per cent of warehouse workers and drivers believe the work environment at Amazon is safe, whereas nearly 45 per cent warehouse workers and 47 per cent delivery drivers find the work environment at Amazon unsafe,” said the report published in partnership with the Amazon India Workers Association (AIWA) noted. It is based on a survey of 1,838 former and current warehouse workers and drivers associated with Amazon India.

 

It said that four out of five warehouse workers reported that the targets set by Amazon are “difficult” or “very difficult” to achieve. As many as 86 per cent of warehouse workers and 28 per cent of drivers said the company does not allow adequate time for them to use the restroom.

One in five delivery drivers surveyed reported being injured on the job. The report said that 46 per cent warehouse workers and 37 per cent delivery drivers said their pay is insufficient to meet their basic needs.

Amazon has refuted these claims as factually incorrect, unsubstantiated, and contradicting what its own employees have said.

“The data being quoted appears at best questionable, and at worst deliberately designed to deliver on a specific narrative that certain groups are trying to claim as fact. By contrast, in our most recent internal survey at our Manesar fulfilment centre (in Haryana) — conducted randomly and anonymously— 87 per cent of our workforce said they were satisfied with their jobs, with as many as eight out of 10 recommending Amazon as a great place to work,” the Amazon India spokesperson said in a statement.

The report was commissioned by UNI Global Union and conducted by Jarrow Insights over 50 days from February 2 to March 22, 2024. It used both on-site and digital methods to ensure a representative sample of Amazon’s workforce in India.

The Union last year conducted a similar study in eight countries, including the United States, Germany and the United Kingdom, to report high pressure and harmful working conditions at Amazon.

“The findings from India echo the global alarm workers around the world are raising about inhumane productivity demands, inadequate safety measures and poor compensation,” said UNI Global Union in a statement.