Amazon Worker Protests Spread To Chicago As Temperatures Rise

As heat climbed to historic heights last week, Amazon workers at a fulfillment center on the south side of Chicago became the latest to protest working conditions at the online retail behemoth.

Early Tuesday morning, thirty workers at Chicago’s DCH1 fulfillment centers came to management with three demands — higher pay during peak delivery periods like Prime Day, health insurance for all workers, and air conditioning — and requested a meeting with the warehouse site leader.

That meeting never came to pass; In a post to Facebook, warehouse workers said management initially agreed to meet with them as a group, but later reneged on the promise, agreeing only meet with workers individually.

By Friday, temperatures in Chicago had climbed to 95 and a heat advisory was announced. Around 10pm that night, Amazon decided that conditions in the un-air conditioned warehouse were dangerously hot and sent workers home with pay. Staff had returned to work by Sunday, according to a worker who spoke with BuzzFeed News.

Here’s a video of the Saturday meeting where workers were sent home:

Caroline O’Donovan is a senior technology reporter for BuzzFeed News and is based in San Francisco.

Contact Caroline O'Donovan at [email protected].

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