0:34
- ABC News
- December 6, 2018
Bear spray sends Amazon workers to hospital
A robot punctured a can of bear spray. Now 24 Amazon workers are hospitalized.
There is no threat to residents in the area and the fumes were confined to the fulfillment center's third floor south wing, Nalbone said earlier. The warehouse is approximately 1.3 million square feet and was ventilated.
Amazon employees are not unionized, but the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union issued a statement about the danger that robots pose to human workers.
\"Amazon's automated robots put humans in life-threatening danger today, the effects of which could be catastrophic and the long-term effects for 80 plus workers are unknown,\" union president Stuart Appelbaum said in a statement. \"The richest company in the world cannot continue to be let off the hook for putting hard working people's lives at risk. Our union will not back down until Amazon is held accountable for these and so many more dangerous labor practices.\"
ABC News' Briana Montalvo contributed to this report.
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