The California legislature has passed a law that requires warehouse distribution centers to tell workers the production quotas they are required to meet, and also lets workers challenge those requirements if they might be preventing them from legally-protected rest and lunch breaks. California Governor Gavin Newsom has not said whether he plans to sign the bill and is fighting a recall vote underway this week.
Labor activists and researchers say time and speed quotas at Amazon fulfillment warehouses create unsafe working conditions that violate federal and state labor laws, and that Amazon has the highest injury rates among its competitors. While Amazon has not commented on the bill, representatives for the California Retailers Association oppose the new law because they say it will boost labor organizing efforts and would create widespread lawsuits from workers against their employers.