Amazon’s Daniel Olayiwola fights for workers’ rights with his podcast

In May 2022, Daniel Olayiwola, A 29-year-old picker spoke at the company’s shareholders’ meeting in an Amazon warehouse in San Antonio. As an employee, he has a small number of vested stock options, making him a formal shareholder, but warehouse staff never made a proposal at previous annual gatherings, usually dominated by major investors, who focused on Amazon’s plans to increase profits and dividends.

Near the end of the virtual MeetingAmazon’s host performed a two-minute recording of Olayiwola. In a statement, Olayiwola said he was proposing a resolution to eliminate productivity quotas and surveillance mechanisms to end the company’s “hurt crisis” that prompted workers not to worry about unemployment and prioritize speed over safety.

“I personally feel physical loss of working for Amazon,” he said in the recording. “I’ve seen my colleagues exhausted.”

this solve His submissions include citations information investigation,,,,, Research Research,one Government Inspection Report Overall, the damage rate of Amazon warehouses is higher than that of non-Amazin warehouses Sometimes violation of labor law conditions.

exist Overview of what it sends to shareholders Before the meeting began, Amazon opposed calls for policy changes, noting that the “worker incident rate” has dropped since 2019. “Safety is an integral part of everything we do at Amazon, and it demonstrates our tireless efforts to health and safety training, interaction with our employees, and our processes to improve working conditions,” the company said. “We are committed to supporting our employees’ well-being and success as demonstrated by our competitive compensation and employee benefits.”

In a statement responding to questions for this story, Amazon spokesperson Sam Stephenson defended the company’s productivity expectations, which he said are “based on time and tenure, peer performance, and advance to safe work practices,” and its use of surveyillance, which he said is “common practice at nearly every major retailer in the world” and helps “ensure employee safety, inventory quality, or protect against theft.”

When Olayiwola’s recording ended, the line fell silent. The moderator then pointed out that Amazon recommended shareholders vote against the resolution. Most people do this and get stuck in advice.

Olayiwola is not sure if he just gave his job.

“I was so scared to say the longest loudly, but I was thinking, like Dud, they have fired everyone you know. Just considering being firedHe said. “I’ve been thinking, They can fire you at any time, and if you do, you will say nothing matters. Say what you say when you’re here now, so they can’t say I just say it because I’m fired.transparent

Amazon spokesman Stephenson said Olivara’s work is not dangerous because “no retaliation of any kind is tolerated.”

But Olayiwola is not sure what will happen when he shows up at the warehouse next week. He said a manager stopped him on the way to the workstation. To his surprise, the manager told Olivora that he respected his words. However, he added that a job in Amazon warehouses is still better than most alternatives. “You could get worse,” Olivara recalls.

He was not fired. But he didn’t make any suggestions.

So, last summer, he started a podcast with a provocative title Surviving scamazonposted a short episode on YouTube, with a total of seven to 10 minutes of monologues so far, each focusing on the different slices of company policies and their impact on workers. These videos haven’t seen more than a few hundred views and are far from polished works by full-time creators, but they are a notable case of a non-uniform, low-paying worker creating an independent channel to call the company publicly and non-anonymously for actively hiring their channels. Olayiwola hopes his initiatives inspire others to contribute their voices, and perhaps one day a huge digital chorus that blames the company for accountability.

He is The first The plot, rising in July.

The podcast is just part of his efforts to expand information. In the past year, he has complete Interview and At least four news media have been published expert In wealth, then Voluntary participation As Manchester United leader, an advocacy group representing retail workers’ campaigns.

“Everyone is scared to speak up,” he said. “I feel like I have to do something to inspire others to tell about their experiences working at Amazon.”