- New York State Assembly on Friday, requiring Amazon and other corporations to reveal production targets to workers.
- If New York Governor Kathy Hochul (D) signs it into law, it will also prevent employees from being forced to forgo lunch or restroom breaks in order to reach targets.
The Warehouse Worker Protection Act (WWPA) was enacted by the New York State Assembly on Friday, requiring Amazon and other corporations to reveal production targets to workers, as first reported by CNBC. If New York Governor Kathy Hochul (D) signs it into law, it will also prevent employees from being forced to forgo lunch or restroom breaks in order to reach targets.
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The WWPA requires companies to furnish each warehouse worker with “a written statement of each quota to which the employee is subject” when they are employed, comparable to a similar policy passed in California in September (or within 30 days of the bill becoming law). It also prohibits employers from punishing employees for failing to reach quotas that were not disclosed or for having to skip breaks to meet them. Governor Hochul has not indicated whether she intends to sign the law or not, according to CNBC.
While the bill’s language does not specifically reference Amazon, New York Senator Jessica Ramos (D) stated that it is intended to address Amazon’s management practices, which she believes include “dehumanizing workers and punishing the very human need for rest.” According to previous claims, Amazon employs an automated tracking system to gauge worker productivity, with some employees reportedly peeing in bottles and skipping toilet breaks to satisfy the e-commerce giant’s production goals.
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Amazon facilities in New York and across the country are becoming more organized. Workers at an Amazon warehouse on Staten Island, New York, became the first to unionize in April. So far, it is the only warehouse to vote in favor of unionization — a neighboring Staten Island warehouse voted against unionization last month, and the Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union (RWDSU) is disputing the results of a union election in Bessemer, Alabama, claiming that Amazon interfered with the results once again.
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