An Amazon employee in Minnesota works five nights a week, but is not a blue-collar employee in the U.S.
Amazon has become the dominant online retailer in the US and in countries such the UK and Germany in large part through its massive logistics operations. But the company’s facilities have developed a reputation for punishing working conditions. Almost one million workers were employed in blue-collar jobs by Amazon in 2021, making it the second largest employer in the US. Workers at an Amazon facility on Staten Island are unionized, but the company is contesting the result.
Tyler Hamilton is focused every waking minute. Between Black Friday and Christmas, five nights a week, he pulls himself out of bed, brushes his teeth, and rushes to his car just before sunset. On his drive to the Amazon fulfillment center in Shakopee, Minnesota, he stops at Wendy’s to buy two bourbon bacon burgers, two large chilis, fries, and a drink.
Hamilton punches in to start his shift after he eats burgers while driving and then goes to work. In the middle of the night, he takes thirty minutes of unpaid break time and reheats the chilis. By the time he clocks out at 5:30 am, his car has frozen, so Hamilton sits huddled in the dark until it warms enough that he can drive home.
He says he has to shower because he works at Amazon for 12 and a half hours. “I’ll have some juice and maybe watch a little bit of YouTube or something and just pass out.” The next evening, he’ll do it all again.
Amazon Pays the Pinch: Employees Who Miss a Day of Unpaid Time During the Two-Day Prime Shipping Season Revisited
One of the few options remaining for shoppers still hoping to order their gifts online is two-day Prime shipping from Amazon. The period between Black Friday and Christmas day is known as “peak season”, where it is notoriously exhausting for workers at the company.
During peak, Amazon requires that workers add a full 10- or 11-hour shift to their already demanding weekly schedules, multiple employees told WIRED, and penalizes those who do not by removing a day of unpaid leave for each missed extra shift. Workers say that the company raises workers’ daily expected productivity rate, defined as things packaged per hour.
The four workers interviewed for this piece also say that their managers speak less about safety and instead emphasize speed during this period. None of them work at the facility where a unionization petition was filed since they have been involved in organizing other employees.