Amazon suspends workers protesting over warehouse fire

Amazon on Tuesday suspended more than two dozen employees at a large warehouse on Staten Island who had refused to work their shift the previous evening, hours after a cardboard compactor at the site had caught fire.

The paid suspensions will last while an investigation takes place, according to a company email to the employees that was shared by the Amazon Labor Union, which won a vote to represent workers at the warehouse in April.

Dozens of employees had gathered in a break room Monday night, raising concerns about fire safety and refusing to work. Some worried that the air at the warehouse might not be safe to breathe because of smoke or fumes from the fire.