Joco Today

U.S. Senator Roger Marshall (R-Kansas) and Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Massachusetts) have reintroduced the Warehouse Worker Protection Act, a bill aimed at prohibiting quotas in warehouses that may endanger worker safety and contribute to high injury rates. The legislation responds to concerns about major corporations imposing productivity quotas on nearly 2 million warehouse workers across the United States.

“Amid the vast expansion of shipping and online shopping, the warehouse workers keeping this economy moving have been left behind,” said Senator Marshall. “For too long, companies have been implementing outlandish quotas, cutting into workers’ rights and leading to injuries. That ends with this bill. I’m proud to support Senator Markey in providing proper protections for workers, ending the fear of abusive quotas.”

Senator Markey added, “Workers deserve to clock in knowing they will return home safe and healthy at the end of their shift. The Warehouse Worker Protection Act would protect the basic health and dignity of workers from corporate bosses who time and again have prioritized unfettered greed and profit over their own people. I am proudly in solidarity with nearly two million warehouse workers nationwide in the fight to ensure that their rights, safety, and dignity are protected.”

The bipartisan measure is cosponsored by Senators Tina Smith (D-Minnesota), Josh Hawley (R-Missouri), Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), Alex Padilla (D-California), Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut), Peter Welch (D-Vermont), Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts), and Chris Murphy (D-Connecticut).

Senator Smith commented on the need for change: “Corporate profits should never be placed above the safety and dignity of American workers. The Warehouse Worker Protection Act ends secret, aggressive productivity metrics and surveillance methods used by major companies, and instead puts power back in the hands of the workers who experience these conditions every day. Workers should never have to choose between their health and their next paycheck, and should not be harmed in service of corporate greed – this bill takes an important step in establishing safe, just workplaces for all.”

Senator Hawley stated: “Corporations need to prioritize their workers’ safety and well-being over profits. This bipartisan legislation will hold the warehouse industry accountable while combating the industry’s worst practices. It’s time to put workers’ safety first and treat them with the dignity they deserve.”

The proposed act has received endorsements from several organizations including the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, National Employment Law Project (NELP), Athena Coalition, and Oxfam America.

Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien expressed support: “Amazon and other abusive warehouse employers are squeezing their workers for every penny of profit, leaving behind tired and broken bodies. These corporate criminals are destroying good jobs in an industry that once supported a strong middle class. But one thing stands in their way—that’s the Teamsters Union, along with a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers who understand what’s at stake. It’s time to pass the Warehouse Worker Protection Act and put workers’ safety over corporate profits.”

Patricia Stottlemyer from Oxfam America highlighted workplace risks: “Everyone deserves a guarantee of safety and dignity on the job, but retail giants like Amazon are raking in record profits on the backs of their workers, subjecting them to incredibly high rates of injury, unsustainable pace pressures, and punitive surveillance systems. The reintroduction of the Warehouse Worker Protection Act is a critical step toward finally securing the safeguards and protections that these workers desperately need.”

Terrysa Guerra from United for Respect noted: “For too long, multi-billion dollar corporations like Walmart and Amazon have gotten away with forcing warehouse workers to meet unreasonable daily quotas — leading to countless injuries on the job — just so they can grow their profits. It’s long past time for that to change. These protections for warehouse workers will usher in a new era of accountability for these companies, and most importantly, will help improve workplace safety for hundreds of thousands of low-wage warehouse workers. United for Respect is thrilled to support this legislation.”

Irene Tung from NELP described ongoing issues: “We are facing a workplace injury crisis in warehouses across America. NELP’s research has found that the digital surveillance and disciplinary practices at companies like Amazon create a climate of fear for workers and astronomically high injury rates at warehouses. We urgently need the Warehouse Worker Protection Act to rein in these abuses and support workers’ right to organize for autonomy and safety on the job.”