Shipping warehouses are a multibillion-dollar business in Connecticut.

But are they safe?

Some workers say they’re asked to meet unrealistic – and dangerous – productivity quotas. On Thursday, they will urge state lawmakers to pass a Warehouse Workers Protection Act.

Justin Donahue said his warehouse job was so exhausting, it was physically painful.

“They’re having us work 10, 12 hours day back-to-back, including weekends,” he said. “My shoulder started straining a little bit. And over the course of about a week, it got to the point where I was getting sharp, shooting pains in my shoulder.”

Donahue went on strike along with 19 other Teamsters Local 671 members at i-Health in Enfield, which distributes medical supplies across the nation.

“Ship it out faster, faster, faster. We’ve got to meet the number,” said Lawrence Sanchez, a former quality assurance technician at i-Health.

Sanchez will head to the state Capitol on Thursday to ask for limits on warehouse quotas, including guaranteed bathroom breaks.

“When you’re forced to work those long, long hours, you’re going to start making mistakes,” he said. “You’re going to start getting injured.”

The bill would require employers to provide a written description of each quota and penalties for not meeting it. Warehouses would also have to make a worker's productivity data available upon request.

The Connecticut Attorney General could sue companies accused of violating the rules, with a “rebuttable presumption” that the violation took place.

Retail warehouses are a booming business in Connecticut. Amazon alone employs 17,000 people at more than a dozen facilities.

The retail giant pays well, too. The average fulfillment worker earns $22 per hour, and even starting employees receive health benefits.

But Amazon also faces accusations of high injury rates and worker mistreatment.

“They cannot go to the bathroom,” Minnesota Amazon employee Khali Jama told Connecticut lawmakers in 2023. “They work 10-hour shifts, four days a week.”

But the state’s largest business group said that’s not what they saw during a recent Amazon facility tour.

“[The bill] talks about meal time periods and bathroom periods,” said Paul Amarone with Connecticut Business and Industry Association. “There are several bathrooms along the floor and along the perimeter of the Amazon facility we toured. Employees had the opportunity to use the bathrooms at their own will.”

Amarone also thinks the law could cost the state jobs and investment.

“Putting unnecessary and overly burdensome productivity quotas, that ultimately impacts customer service and support, will disincentivize companies to expand and to move their operations in Connecticut,” he said.

The General Assembly’s Labor and Public Employees Committee will hear from the public on Thursday afternoon. You can also submit written testimony HERE.

The Warehouse Workers Protection Act has failed twice before amid pushback from Amazon and business groups.

Lawmakers are considering two warehouse worker bills. But one of them also includes a very controversial idea – allowing striking workers to collect unemployment benefits – an idea that Gov. Ned Lamont vetoed last year.

At i-Health, striking workers say they were fired by text. The company did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.

“They have money,” said Sanchez. “i-Health is a multimillion-dollar company that makes millions of dollars in profit. As well as DSM-Firmenich, that owns i-Health, is a multibillion-dollar company.”