Teamsters Applaud Passage of Oregon Law Addressing ‘Unrealistic’ Warehouse Quotas
The Teamsters union is celebrating the passage of a new law that aims to protect warehouse employees from unreasonably high workplace quotas that put could their health at risk.
Oregon Governor Tina Kotek signed HB 4127 into law on Wednesday, ratifying legislation that she believes will improve worker safety and wellbeing in the e-commerce and warehouse industries by ensuring that employers’ work requirements don’t override their rights.
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“Oregon warehouse workers have long been subjected to unsafe working conditions due to secretive and unrealistic production quotas generated using arbitrary computer algorithms,” according to Mark Davison, the Teamsters Western Region international vice president and president of Joint Council 37.
“Governor Tina Kotek’s signing of HB 4127 is a significant stride toward ensuring the safety and well-being of workers, and it addresses the exploitative quota systems used by profit-driven companies like Amazon,” Davison added.
Under the law, employers must provide workers with written documentation of expectations upon signing, including “the quantified number of tasks to be performed, or materials to be produced or handled, within a defined time period,” as well as a description of the consequences that will take place if the quota isn’t met. But the quotas must not “unreasonably interfere” with a worker’s right to take meal breaks, rest breaks or bathroom breaks, or impede any other rights employees are entitled to under state and federal laws.
If an employee is terminated for a quota-related issue, they have the right to request work-speed records from the employer from the previous 90 days. If they believe their rights to the agreed-upon breaks were violated, or that their safety was unduly put at risk, they can file a complaint with the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor and Industries.
“This law is a big step forward for workers in our state. It will improve workers’ rights by providing workers with transparency and holding companies that utilize arbitrary quotas accountable,” secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 223 Austin DePaolo said. “I thank the state legislature and Governor Kotek for protecting working people and improving safety standards.”
Amazon has long been dogged by workplace safety complaints, inviting a constant stream of criticism from unions and lawmakers. Last summer, the Seattle e-commerce titan landed in Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (D-Vt.) crosshairs when the chair of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) launched an investigation into “dangerous and illegal” conditions at its warehouses.
At the time, Sanders cited data showing that Amazon reported to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) showing that its warehouse employees incur more than double the rate of serious injuries than warehouse workers employed by other firms.
One employee at Amazon’s St. Paul, Missouri warehouse said, “Most of the injuries in my job come from the speed of work that we are pushed to keep up with.” They blamed the culture of “fear and surveillance” for pushing workers beyond what is safe or reasonable.
“By establishing the expectations of workers’ employment and eliminating arbitrary quota systems, we are prioritizing the safety and rights of workers in our state,” said Steve Konopa, secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 305 and Joint Council 37 legislative director, this week. “I want to thank Governor Tina Kotek, House Speaker Dan Rayfield, Rep. Ricki Ruiz, and Senators Wlnsvey Campos, Chris Gorsek, James Manning, and Kathleen Taylor for their support in prioritizing this important piece of legislation.”
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