Fulfillment Center Injury

Hello, I work at a fulfillment center for amazon. I've been working here for 6 months and about a month ago, my back became in increasingly more pain when they began to put me on NPC which if you are not aware of is Line 1 of Universal-Receive. When I had requested to be put off of NPC because I could not physically handle it, they told me I had to get a COF, (certification of fitness) and when I went to HR to get a COF, they informed me that they didn't know what I was talking about so i went to AM care where they informed me that HR had it, but it turned out AM care and HR both knew what i was talking about. I proceeded to finally get the COF, and go see a doctor. The doctor proceeded to give me restrictions, referred me to a specialist which was going to take a week. and before April 5th, I took a leave of absence which my case manager said would be fine as long as i saw the specialist and gave HR my portion of the COF in which I did. 

The doctor found an annular tear and a bulge of my disc which she was surprised by for someone my age. I had gone to physical therapy in which i felt better physically so my doctor released me back to work two days ago. I went back on the line for the first day, i was fine besides my body adjusting to standing for 10 hours, and feeling a little stiff. then for the second day, they had asked be to PG which is basically me picking up boxes that needed problem solving. I wasn't comfortable doing this job because being on universal doesn't include dead lifting. but this job duty does, but since they can't legally accommodate to me without a doctors note, (they had actually told me that when i requested to not be on NPC) so I just did it at my own pace instead of rushing like they wanted me to, and asked for mostly team lift for the night.

We had a a worldwide system failure which basically meant every box on the line had no destination, and the PG people of the night (me) had to manually give a destination with the scanners. she had told me and 3 other women to scan every box that was stacked on the pallet, give it a destination, then put the box on a new pallet. while doing this, I felt a quick sharp pain in my right side. It went away, and my back just was stiff. I thought it was nothing, finished the job, she asked me to go to inbound, then I went home. When I went to sleep, and woke up the next day , my back hurt like hell, having sharp pains all over and then I knew I re-injured my back.

I was very hesitant on making an injury report to AM care because I knew what would happen after, but I had hurt my back while working, and it wouldn't make any sense to not report it. Not to mention, amazon denied my short term disability claim and my leave of absence because I had to wait a week to see my specialist, and they claimed it shouldn't take that long even though appointments are out of my control, and urgent cares don't have MRI's.

When I made the injury report, the AM care guy had proceeded to write down what happened to me, and he had found in my file that I had went to AM care for back problems before which I admitted was true because our managers told us that if we have any pain while working to go to AM care where they have you fill out the COF (non work related form) and that's what I did because I couldn't tell the cause as I am not a doctor. they told us we would have back pain but my back pain was different then their definition "back pain", but I had noticed it was getting way worse after being on NPC for 3 days straight. and more every week. The AM care proceeded to act as if he was a lawyer, and use my pre-existing condition against me by saying that it's not amazons fault, and that it was mine.

He then proceeded to say the restrictions I had didn't have an "end date" but my specialist gave him the end date to his restrictions which was the 23rd. so the whole time, I'm being told i'm at fault for having a pre-existing condition, and that I am a liar essentially. My manager comes in, and asks what size box was it, was it cubed, and all sorts of details. she then says "why didn't you report it right away?" and i didn't report it right away because the sharp pain went away, and I didn't automatically assume I injured my back again. i thought i may have pulled a muscle. or something but woke up where It was obvious I re-injured my back. she then says stares at me for a long time, walks away, and starts whispering to the AM care people then laughing. '

I had walked out, covered 4 hours of PTO to talk to someone about my situation because I didn't feel safe being there without having any knowledge of filing an injury report so I contacted a lawyer in which he had told me my rights, and typical tactics to screw you up, and things to watch out for so I came back, didn't clock in because i came back a little early and went AM care to file the paper work for workers comp where I was being yelled at for requesting the paper work while off the clock. because being in AM care means you're working? but anyway I told the guy I just wanted to sign the papers, and that was it. The other AM care guy started printing out my papers, and the other guy stormed out, came back with my manager and HR and yelled "YOU CANNOT BE BACK HERE. YOU NEED TO LEAVE" , and I think it's funny how they are willing to follow those guidelines, but not any others. I find it rather amusing to yell at your employee for something that could've already been over with, but you're willing to sweep the safety hazards around this warehouse under the rug? very amusing

I finally came back, clocked in, and signed it. and my manager came in, started whispering with the AM care guy, and looking over at me. then my HR comes in, and shows him something on the laptop, looks at me, then leaves.

I have a very good feeling that I'm gonna get fired. I'm not particularly surprised because they didn't seem too happy that I made an injury report in the first place, and this is a common thing among amazon. Leave of absence already has -40 of UPT which i had already given documentation that covers those UPT dates which they keep denying as well.

In the end, I had asked if they could be put me on lighter duty for that night so i wouldn't further injure my back, and they said no so I walked out even though I had -40 UPT.

Amazon needs to start admitting that physical demands of the job can not be met with the amounting pressure of meeting rates. I had been told numerous times how my rates aren't up to par, and I needed to work faster, and as soon as I do, I'm hurt, exhausted, and on the verge of passing out. another thing is they keep putting small women on line 1 which requires straight dead lifting of heavy boxes that cannot go on any other line because of it's size. they claim they can't move people because line 1 is the same as all the other lines but it's not. The other lines don't require dead lifting at all. You slide the boxes off of the conveyor.

I don't think it's fair for amazon to pressure it's workers to meet rates while having standard physical limitations, and i definitely don't think it's fair that if you hurt yourself on the job from trying to meet rates or just simply doing what your told, you are treated like a liar.

The managers at my job, and i'm sure many others set unrealistic expectations on us, and laugh with other managers while me and everyone else are lifting heavy boxes to get everything on the line to be ready to go so customers can receive their products.

Jeff Bezos purposely gives good benefits and a higher wage as an excuse to dismiss any complaints regarding his company, but good benefits are not an excuse to sweep the safety violations under the rug, and are definitely not excuse to treat employees like they aren't your customers too.

Jeff Bezos is not the face of amazon. We the employees are the face of amazon. We the employees are also the customers, we break our backs for. We the employees are what makes amazon successful. If it wasn't for us, he wouldn't be a billionaire, and he sure wouldn't be praised for any of his so called success. We are his success, and without us. He has nothing.

I encourage people to talk about their stories, and stand up for themselves. I made a risk making that report, and even writing this write now, but I will not be treated or shown off like I'm just a tool in the box. I am more than that, and I will prove that all the way down. This goes for a lot more than amazon. This goes for warehouse workers in general, and just companies that pin employees against one another.

I will not stand to be trampled on because of $12/HR and benefits.

I am not a wage.

I am not a number.

I am not an order.

I am not a rate.

I am a person.