‘They just turn a blind eye’: Amazon Air contractors face safety risks as new coronavirus outbreaks emerge

‘They just turn a blind eye’: Amazon Air contractors face safety risks as new coronavirus outbreaks emerge

An Amazon Air plane at Ontario International Airport on Monday, February 4, 2019.

Katie Schoolov

The coronavirus pandemic has shed a bright light on Amazon's treatment of warehouse workers and prompted the company to take extraordinary steps to reassure employees, legislators and the broader public that it's protecting workers. 

Amazon has changed how its warehouses operate to improve safety, offered additional benefits to workers who fall sick and set up a relief fund for delivery contractors.

But a crucial piece of Amazon's shipping operations was left out of the company's response to the pandemic, some workers say. 

Contractors at Worldwide Flight Services (WFS), a company that serves Amazon's air freight network, Amazon Air, and other carriers, have gone without many of the benefits provided to warehouse and delivery employees. They weren't provided with bonuses, hourly wage increases, extra paid sick leave or unlimited unpaid time off, despite working long hours at the height of the pandemic. Workers accrue paid sick leave over time, so they're able to take a limited number of days off if they're sick, but once that time runs out, they must return to work.

WFS workers say managers aren't enforcing mask requirements, and say hand sanitizer and soap are in short supply at facilities.