Amazon To Pay $1.9 Million For Human Rights Abuse Claim

(CTN News) – The Saudi government has agreed to pay Amazon over $1.9 million to over 700 migrant workers after they allege they were abused by exploitative labor contracts.

In a blog post on Feb. 22, the online giant said it hired Verité, a third-party labor rights expert, to investigate conditions at two Saudi Arabian factories.

According to Amazon, several practices violated its supply chain criteria.

According to a report published by Amnesty International last October, Amazon warehouses in Saudi Arabia are in poor condition for migrant workers, as well as investigations by the Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.

In the Amnesty report, numerous migrant laborers, many of them of Nepalese descent, were falsely promised direct employment with Amazon by third-party recruitment agencies.

In order to secure jobs, these workers paid illegal fees. In the report, Amnesty wrote that the contractors worked at Amazon warehouses but were housed in accommodations that were “overcrowded and dirty, infested with bed bugs and lacking even the most basic facilities.”

In certain cases, the agencies prevented workers from changing jobs or leaving the country unless they paid huge fines, which were beyond what they could afford without taking out loans to escape.

As Amnesty noted in its report, most of the cases identified were so extreme that they essentially constituted “human trafficking for labor exploitation as defined by international law.”

According to Amazon, the company became aware of the issue before Amnesty and other organizations released reports on the issue. Verité conducted interviews with employees of one of the company’s temporary labor vendors, Abdullah Fahad Al-Mutairi Co., which revealed workers paying recruitment fees, substandard living accommodations, contract and wage irregularities, and delays in resolving worker complaints.

The company stated in a blog post that it aims to ensure that all of its vendors have management systems that ensure safe and healthy working conditions.

A number of advocacy groups, politicians, and lawmakers have criticized Amazon’s labor record for its treatment of contractors who work in their warehouses and on the delivery side where unsafe working conditions are present.

There are many federal investigations into the firm’s safety practices, and it has been fined for subjecting workers to ergonomic risks in its warehouses.

As a result, Amazon denies the accusations made by regulators and reiterates its commitment to investing in worker safety. In addition, the company claims to have reduced injury rates, partly through greater automation in its facilities.

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