A group of Amazon employees were suspended with pay for refusing to return to work after a fire broke out at a warehouse on Staten Island, sources and a company spokesperson said.

A “small” blaze started in a cardboard compactor outside Amazon’s JFK8 warehouse — whose workers voted to unionize earlier this year — on Monday afternoon, Amazon spokesperson Paul Flaningan said in a statement provided to NY1. 

Amazon “safely evacuated” all of its employees and sent day-shift employees home “with pay,” Flaningan said. 

What You Need To Know

  • A group of Amazon employees were suspended with pay for refusing to return to work after a fire broke out at a warehouse on Staten Island, sources and a company spokesperson said

  • A “small” blaze started inside a cardboard compactor outside Amazon’s JFK8 warehouse — whose workers voted to unionize earlier this year — on Monday afternoon, Amazon spokesperson Paul Flaningan said in a statement provided to NY1

  • Sources told NY1 that Amazon placed the workers on paid leave pending the outcome of an investigation into the incident

Some night-shift employees, however, refused to start their shifts, despite the fact that the FDNY “certified the building [was] safe,” according to Flaningan.

“While the vast majority of employees reported to their workstations, a small group refused to return to work and remained in the building without permission,” Flaningan said.

Sources told NY1 that Amazon placed the workers on paid leave pending the outcome of an investigation into the incident. 

The Washington Post reported that “at least 50 workers” were suspended. 

Tristian Martinez and David Sherwood are two of those workers. 

According to Martinez, he was sent an email saying his badge was suspended pending an investigation less than 12 hours after the fire.

"When I asked what I was being investigated for, they had no answer for me," Sherwood said.

"We stood there demanding answers, taking part in collective action, and now we’re being retaliated against," Martinez said.

Despite his frustrations, Martinez said he still wants to work there.

"So I stay at this job because I want it to change, I see that this job has potential to be something great if they just start taking care of their workers and creating an environment that makes people want to stay," he said.

An attorney for Amazon Labor Union told the Washington Post employees “didn’t feel safe going back to work” after the fire. 

“They were engaging in rights that have been protected for 85 years under the National Labor Relations Act,” the attorney, Seth Goldstein, said.

An Amazon Labor Union spokesperson couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

But Amazon Labor Union President Christian Smalls expressed solidarity with the workers as he shared a video Tuesday on his Twitter account that appeared to show the fire outside the warehouse.

“To all Amazon spokespeople there was nothing small about this group and I can tell you first hand because I was actually there not sitting behind a screen,” Smalls wrote. 

“Instead of addressing concerns of health and safety putting workers on paid suspension was their response Shame on them!” he added.