Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and 13 other senators slammed Amazon's 'dismal safety record' in a fiery letter to Jeff Bezos - here are the 8 things they're demanding from the online retail giant

Clodagh Kilcoyne/Reuters

The senators called for reduced quotas and beefed up safety education for workers.

• A collection of Democratic and Independent United States Senators, including Bernie Sanders and Liz Warren, wrote a letter to Jeff Bezos criticizing Amazon's health and safety record.
• The letter heavily cited the November 2019 collaboration between The Atlantic and Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting, which investigated reports of injuries in Amazon's warehouses.
• "The safety of workers should come first," the senators wrote in the letter.
• "Nothing is more important to us than the safety and well-being of our employees," an Amazon spokesperson said in response to the letter, as posted by Reveal journalist Will Evans.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

A group of 15 United States senators, including presidential candidate frontrunner Bernie Sanders and Senator Elizabeth Warren, penned a letter to Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos blasting his online retail giant's health and safety record.

Dated February 7, the letter cited the November 25, 2019 collaboration between The Atlantic and Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting that examined what it described as a pattern of "disturbing injury rates at Amazon warehouses." Business Insider conducted a similar investigation a year ago, in which workers described the peak holiday season as "brutal."

"Your company requires employees to risk their safety and health to perform and keep their jobs," the letter reads. "The safety of workers should come first."

Amazon did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment. But Reveal journalist Will Evans did publish a statement from Amazon in response to the letter.

The letter from the senators included the following eight demands for Bezos and Amazon:

1. That the warehouses would reduce their quota and speed requirements for employees.
2. That the warehouses would re-designate bathroom breaks so that they are no longer "time off tasks."
3. That the warehouses would staff worksite medical clinics with "licensed health care professionals."
4. That warehouse management would speedily refer Amazon workers suffering from ailments to a licensed physician.
5. That the warehouses would "implement changes to the physical workplace and to work practices" to be easier on workers' bodies.
6. That Amazon would prevent "discrimination and retaliation" against workers who report injuries or safety issues.
7. That Amazon would provide more education on health and safety concerns to employees.
8. That the company would publicize its OSHA "record of serious injuries" on the company's website.

In addition to Sanders and Warren, former candidates Kamala Harris, Cory Booker, and Kristen Gillibrand also lent their signatures to the letter. None of the 15 signatories were Republicans. The letter called for Bezos and Amazon to post a letter in response by February 21.

Here's Amazon's response to the letter.

"Nothing is more important to us than the safety and well-being of our employees...we take an aggressive stance on recording injuries no matter how big or small..." (full response below) pic.twitter.com/TmLruMXVVX

- Will Evans (@willCIR) February 10, 2020

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