Jose Ending

The speaker discusses the dependency of vulnerable people on Amazon, emphasizing the need to understand their reasons before judging their choices. The speaker shares the story of the Dimash brothers and their reliance on Amazon for stability. They highlight the lack of awareness about Amazon's Welcome Door program and raise suspicions about the company's knowledge of it. The speaker also mentions how many Amazon workers, like Jose, end up dependent on public assistance despite being injured at work. They describe Jose's journey from being terminated due to paperwork issues to experiencing an injury and struggling to receive workers' compensation. The speaker criticizes Amazon's handling of the situation and calls for better protections for workers. A significant part of that dependency involves vulnerable people with very few options. And I always say, don't judge a person's choices before you understand their reasons. There are a lot of people who have specific reasons why they go to Amazon. And this affects millions of people. Take a listen to what happened to, take a listen to what happened to the Dimash brothers at ALB1 because their story is not unique. Like many immigrants coming to the country, they see Amazon as a gateway to stability in a new country. And Amazon supposedly provides the Welcome Door program, yet nobody at ALB1 knew about the program until I personally met with workers outside of the building. This program seems to be a bit of a secret because I've asked about it on multiple occasions. So I don't know if it's available. So I didn't know, but after I met with the Dimash brothers and we filed the, and we went through the A to Z app to the Welcome Door program and filed for the EAD fees, their fees were refunded. But I remain curious why HR and nobody else in the entire building knew anything about the program. To me, that was a little suspicious. And this is all a ripple effect because despite being employed full time, many workers continue to be, continue to be dependent on public assistance and state benefits. So today I'm going to share, today I'll be sharing the story of Jose. And the story demonstrates how Amazon workers become dependent on their own health benefits. And in a lot of cases, dependent on Medicaid and other state benefits, despite the fact that they are injured at work. So we're going to talk about that today. Jose and his brothers came to the United States in February of 2023 under the temporary refugee parolee status. That status allows them to come into the U.S. and stay for urgent humanitarian reasons. But it didn't go that way, but it doesn't offer a pathway to citizen, it doesn't offer a pathway to citizenship or permanent residency. So in March of 2023, Jose and his brothers found a job at the Amazon Fulfillment Center in Castleton, New York, known as ALB1. They were given 30 days to submit the necessary documentation, but less than a week into their new roles after being hired, they were terminated for failing to provide the required paperwork and time. Now, this was a critical misstep by Amazon because they had 30 days, but the brothers didn't know what to do. So they waited and they were rehired in May of 2023, it was the end of May in 2023. They were rehired as seasonal because, of course, they're hiring for prime. They were rehired waiting for their permanent badge, but in the meantime, over the course of the prior four months, they lost out on any potential sign-on bonuses, their tenure towards their 40-cent raise every six months, and other benefits. And on June 23rd of 2023, Jose's journey took a painful turn for the worse. He was injured at ALB1. He reported the injury to Amcare, which is Amazon's on-site medical representative, like I said, kind of like the nurse's office of work. The Amcare representative puts ice on his injury. The Amcare representative gives him ice and then Jose goes back to work. He doesn't receive any information. He doesn't know anything about COMP, and all he knows is that he reported the injury, he got ice, and they sent him back to work. But the injury progresses, so he later decides to go to the doctor and he uses his own insurance because, again, he doesn't know anything about COMP. The doctor gives him a note for light duty. He brings the note in and gives it to the Amcare representative with the light duty restrictions, and the Amcare representative puts him on light duty. Okay, you have to stay with me for this whole process. At this point, because they accommodated him with a light duty assignment from Amcare, it would have to be a work-related injury. However, remember, the associate, Jose, however, Jose never got any workers' COMP paperwork, and he used his own insurance. But the Amcare representative never says anything about that. Jose continues to work light duty until December of 2023. He was actually terminated, and this time for idle time. And at Amazon, idle time and unpaid time off are two surefire ways to get terminated. Amazon's ADEPT system is designed to weed out the people that they don't want. It controls everything, including the managers. So Jose's alleged 200 minutes of idle time that he was terminated for resulted from loading go-karts that were already scanned by a previous employee, and it was a system error. And this happens frequently at the warehouse because we're running out of equipment, some of the equipment is broken, you have to—and it's very fast-paced. Sometimes we have to get things on the truck. So we're moving very quickly, but it's not in the system, even though we're manually working. Jose returns where he was injured once again on April 4th. And this time he received the workers' compensation paperwork, and he visited the Bona Joint Center in Albany, New York. This time he received workers' compensation paperwork and visited the Bona Joint Center in Albany, New York. The doctor restricted him from lifting anything over 10 pounds. He submitted his documentation to AmCare and continued to work on light duty. Everything seemed to be calming down until mid-June when his manager suddenly instructs him to work full duty. And Jose had objected to it and said, hey, I'm still on restrictions, I'm still on light duty. His manager didn't seem to care and told him that there was no accommodation available and he had to go to AmCare. So Jose, dazed and confused, goes to AmCare where he is then told he has no accommodation. He was then escorted over to the human resources desk where they instructed him to get a new accommodation through his doctor for a disability, a disability he didn't have when he came to Amazon with no other options. They now tell him to go to the local urgent care or the hospital. When Jose leaves work, he goes to the local WellNow, waits, where WellNow informs him that this is a prior injury and if he's feeling any pain, he needs to go to the hospital if he can't get into the Bona Joint Center because they're already seeing him because he's already a patient. But they explain if he's in pain or if it's a new injury that he should go to the hospital. Jose goes to the hospital where he waits and is seen, where he waits and is finally seen and the doctor at the hospital takes him out of work until he can be seen at the Bona Joint Center. A few days later, Jose visits the Bona Joint Center. The doctor fills out the paperwork and tells Jose, hey, I'll send this in. Jose said, okay, thinking this is the normal process. Jose then returns to work where he's working and is approached by his manager. His manager asks him where the documentation is and Jose responds that the doctor is mailing it in. The manager then responds that Jose can no longer work the light duty assignment, that he either needs to work his full duty assignment loading the trucks or working on ship dock or he has to go back to Amcare to see if they received the documentation. So of course he's escorted back to Amcare where there is no documentation and they explain now that it is no longer handled by Amcare because it's his disability and his own illness and now he has to go to HR where HR then sends him home on an unpaid leave to get more medical documentation to file a claim under disability instead of workers comp. That's what's happening every day. Jose had been waiting to receive his disability payments and it wasn't until a month later that he had contacted me and asked me to help him. I realized we contacted Amazon's disability and leave services together and I'm going to play the recording for you. In the recorded conversation DLS claimed that Jose must first apply for disability through New York State because Amazon needs to make sure that he won't receive more than 60% of his gross pay despite the fact that New York State only pays up to $170 a week. It's a blatant lie. Interestingly enough I went out on disability after Jose and I got paid after the first seven days. I never applied with New York State. The state governor has publicly criticized Amazon but I wonder how she feels about the state shouldering the cost of Amazon related injuries, flooding our hospitals and urgent care visits and fraudulent claims with the labor department then relying on state benefits to cover the appointments due to Amazon's false claims about injuries. Jose and his brother were known for their hard work and aspirations to become citizens and gain promotions. Instead they were faced with wrongful terminations, denied promotions, withheld workers' compensation benefits, rejected accommodations and forced unpaid leave of absence. Jose's story is a stark reminder of the vulnerabilities exploited in the workplace and the urgent need for better protections for workers everywhere. His journey from injury to injustice is not just a personal tragedy but a call to action for systemic change. Thank you so much for listening. Please share, subscribe. Please like, share and subscribe and please comment and be respectful. Stay tuned for my conversation with Amazon's employment. Stay tuned for my conversation with Amazon's employer. Stay tuned for my conversation with Amazon's employee resource center.