Amazon India staff 'forced to meet targets in 55C heat'

A year since the retail giant faced criticism for working conditions in the country, a new survey shows little change

- SHAHANA YASMIN

Amazon warehouse staff in India are still being forced to work in temperatures as high as 55C and the majority feel conditions are too hot to be safe, according to a new survey.

The survey by UNI Global Union comes nearly one year after the company came under fire over accounts of workers fainting and falling sick in stifling conditions.

It covers 474 warehouse and delivery workers across India this summer. Of those surveyed, 75 per cent said they or a co-worker required medical attention and 58 per cent described their workplaces as "extremely hot and unsafe" or feeling "like an oven". Nearly 68 per cent said they had felt sick, dizzy, or faint at work, and 85 per cent witnessed a co-worker fall ill from heat exposure.

Amazon has strongly rejected the findings of the survey, saying it is proud to provide employment for around 120,000 people in India and that it has measures in place to ensure their safety in the workplace.

Union officials and workers, on the other hand, argued that the survey findings matched their daily experiences. Asked about the hottest temperatures they had to endure inside an Amazon India warehouse, workers in the report gave figures ranging from 42C to as high as 55C. Nearly half of the workers said they were not told the actual temperature inside their facilities.

Forty-one per cent said they couldn't slow their pace without risking penalties and 59 per cent described their targets as unachievable in high heat. More than half said they were punished or warned for slowing down during heatwaves, with consequences ranging from wage loss (36 per cent) and disciplinary action (38 per cent) to loss of bonuses (15 per cent) and even team penalties (11 per cent).

Only 7 per cent reported being granted extra breaks during heatwaves while 16 per cent said they were offered no cooling measures at all and 51 per cent said that they were denied healthcare after disclosing symptoms.