Joliet Amazon facility too hot, warehouse workers say

Warehouse Workers for Justice said it got too hot for working conditions on the loading docks at an Amazon facility in Joliet during this week’s heat wave.

Workers carrying portable thermometers reported temperatures reaching 89.8 degrees at the MDW2 cross-dock facility, according to a WWJ news release, calling for local officials to look into hot conditions in area warehouses.

“We call on local officials to establish a task force to review the issue of heat in the warehousing and manufacturing industry to ensure that all workers are kept safe, especially as climate change makes each new year the hottest year on record,” WWJ Executive Director Marcos Ceniceros said in a statement.

An Amazon spokesman, however, called the WWJ report “misleading” and said warehouse management took a number of steps to avoid workers getting overheated during the temperature surge.

“Outside of a small area near our loading docks – which did experience elevated temperatures – the vast majority of this facility was cooler than this,” spokesman Steve Kelly said.

Kelly said management took a number of steps at the Amazon warehouse including:

• stopping “all outdoor work for large sections of time” Wednesday and Thursday.

• doubling staffing levels near the docks so employees could rotate jobs more frequently.

• providing 15-minute breaks for every hour worked in the loading docks.

• providing water and popsicles for employees and adding 60 water coolers throughout the facility.

• renting supplemental air conditioning units for additional cooling.

Ceniceros said workers at the MDW2 facility have been calling on Amazon to improve heat-related working conditions since an incident in June.