CEO Jeff Bezos: Probes add to labour issues of rapidly expanding network. — Reuters file pic

SAN FRANCISCO, June 14 — Amazon.com Inc’s labour issues are growing at its sprawling network of fulfilment centres , where it ships everything from books to big-screen televisions.

The US Department of Labour said this week that it’s examining two worker deaths at warehouses operated by the world’s largest online retailer. One man was crushed to death in December 2013 after getting caught between a conveyor system while sorting packages at a facility in Avenel, New Jersey, and another fatality occurred on June 1 at an Amazon fulfilment centre in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

The probes add to labour issues Amazon is facing as c hief executive officer Jeff Bezos spends to open new distribution centres worldwide. The Seattle-based company has faced criticism for treatment of its employees, including from labour unions. Earlier this year, an attempt to form a labour union of Amazon workers at a centre in Middletown, Delaware, was rejected by workers. Last year, Amazon also grappled with strikes in Germany, as warehouse workers demanded collective wage agreements and increases in minimum pay.

Amazon has been building more distribution centres to get closer to consumers to help speed delivery of items. As of mid-2013, the company had spent almost US$13.9 billion (RM44.7 billion) on fulfilment expenses — including 50 new facilities — since 2010. Amazon had 89 warehouses at the end of 2012 and had announced five more for the US last year. The centres are in locations from Beijing to across the US in states such as New Hampshire and Indiana.

In the first quarter, fulfilment expenses climbed 29 per cent to US$2.3 billion. For this past holiday season, Amazon said it was hiring 70,000 full-time seasonal workers for its fulfilment centres.

Safety probes

The Labour Department’s probe is being handled by its Occupational Safety and Health Administration division. Ronald Smith, a temporary worker, died in December, OSHA said, citing five companies for violations at the Amazon facility in Avenel, New Jersey. Thy included the contractor responsible for the sorting operation and four staffing agencies that hired temporary employees to work at the warehouse. Amazon was not cited by the government for the death.

“Any accident that occurs in a facility is one too many and we take these matters seriously,” Amazon said in a statement.

The incident shows the risks of working at the facilities where everything from electronic gadgets to baby diapers are shipped to millions of customers. Amazon’s shares rose less than 1 per cent yesterday to close at US$326.27 in New York.