I am an Amazon worker at JFK8 - Amazon Fulfillment Center. This has been a rough year for all of us, not only us as Americans but this is world wide. Many businesses have closed and the ones who are still open are striving for the success of their company. Here at JFK8 for the past month we have been able to take unlimited unpaid time off because of the coronavirus epidemic. But after May 1st it will be mandatory for Amazonian's to work. This means we will be forced to use our own UPT. This is unfair, Amazon is demanding us to work in an environment that is very vulnerable to the virus.These are huge facilities and social distancing isn't enough, or walking around with a face mask. Some people may be sick and won't have any symptoms until a few days later. Or what if the products, boxes or even restrooms are contaminated? What if someone is sick and they are worried about not being able to leave. This puts everyone at risk, it's just not fair for us. By having unlimited UPT workers can manage their time. If a worker feels sick he has the option to go home or not come into work that day. If we are forced to stay, people won't feel safe, people already don't feel safe being outside, imagine being forced to go to work. During these past 2 months  people have been able to stay at home for feeling ill, now imagine the potential cases that will continue to add up at a rapid rate. Here at JFK8 there have been about 30 confirmed cases, with 7 of them being this week! Amazon always talks about SAFETY being the number one rule, but we won't feel anything but safe knowing that I'll lose my job. I just cant believe Amazon works like this, they need to think about the safety of the workers. Its either they give us unlimited UPT or they might as well close the facility....

For the people that are confused about UPT, it is an abbreviation for “Unpaid Time”. It is a policy Amazon has for its workers to take time off when necessary. For example if you have 15 hours of UPT and you run out of those hours this means you're in the negatives which leads to termination.