Fire Officials Told CBS new York

A still-unrecognized labor union for an Amazon warehouse in Staten Island, New York said early Wednesday that 50 workers at the facility were suspended by the online retail giant for staging a walkout after a fire led to unsafe work conditions. About 100 workers staged a march through the warehouse facility Monday night, demanding to be sent home with pay after the fire in a trash compactor just outside.


"It's just point-blank an unsafe work environment," JFK8 warehouse employee Leo Shockey told CBS New York after the blaze. He and other employees said the fire left the warehouse too filled with smoke to work safely.


In a statement posted to its Twitter page, JFK8's Amazon Labor Union - a grassroots group of former and current workers still battling Amazon's management for formal recognition as a union - said management had suspended "over 50 workers who were involved in last night's walkout."


The union called it "clear retaliation" for the action.


"Amazon workers made a collective decision last night to demand that workers get sent home while the smoke cleared," the Amazon Labor Union said, adding that it had also demanded to see a report by the New York Fire Department, which responded to extinguish the fire.


The blaze started when a compactor caught fire by a loading dock on Monday afternoon, not long before a shift changeover. Employee Tristian Martinez, who's shift was ending, shot video and told CBS New York he and other members of the day shift were told they could go home at about 5:15 p.m.


When night shift employees started to arrive not long after, they said Amazon managers didn't tell them about the fire, which caused no injuries.


"There was no message from Amazon whatsoever, so all of us just came to work in an unsafe environment not being told anything," employee Brett Daniels said.