An early-morning walkout at Amazon’s DJT6 delivery station in Riverside on Dec. 16 thrust a basic question into the center of the region’s holiday shipping rush: Can the workers who move the boxes afford to live anywhere near the jobs that depend on them?
For Maricruz Delgadillo, 26, the math feels unforgiving. Delgadillo, a warehouse associate at DJT6, said she wakes up around 2 AM to clock in at 3:20 AM, moving packages that can weigh up to 50 pounds and helping set up routes for delivery drivers. During peak season, she said, Amazon adds mandatory over-time—an extra hour and an extra day—pushing her schedule to nine-hour shifts, six days a week.
“It kind of just feels like I don’t really have a choice,” Delgadillo said of joining the organizing effort. “If I really want better for myself and my peers, this is what we have to do.”…