Amazon warehouse workers go on strike

Wayfair
XRKs6g

Go to company page Wayfair

XRKs6g
Jul 15, 2019 35 Comments

Amazon fulfillment centers don't have a good reputation in terms of employee treatment and benefits. And many consumers don't understand that those 1-day Amazon shipments take a toll on warehouse employees. There's a lot of work involved in getting packages to customer doors. If more people can understand this, maybe there could be some change to what type of benefits these workers can be given. I just don't know if a strike is the most effective method to achieve this.

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/15/amazon-workers-prime-day-strike-begins-in-minnesota.html

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TOP 35 Comments
  • Wayfair / Eng
    lLmi30

    Go to company page Wayfair Eng

    PRE
    Wayfair, Cognizant, Tech Mahindra
    BIO
    software engineer
    lLmi30
    When all the drama is over and people go back to living their usual lives, all the SJWism will be forgotten in the face of convenience that Amazon provides us with. People will go back to complaining where their orders are. Amazon is and will be one the best companies ever created.

    It's like the country USA. You can vilify it, call it names but the truth is it will always be one of the most innovative countries in the world and the next biggest achievements in technology will most likely come from here.

    In the land of the free and home of the brave there are ups and downs.
    Jul 15, 2019 8
    • Wayfair
      bnKI45

      Go to company page Wayfair

      bnKI45
      Apple I know you want to believe that kind of thing but it's simply not true. There is a long history of workers organizing to get better conditions.
      Jul 16, 2019
    • REI
      user1938

      Go to company page REI

      user1938
      The 40 hour work week came from building trades and other industry workers marching in the late 1800's. Ford backed the idea in 1914 because it's productivity was apparent. Unions ultimately fortified the idea around 1937 when GM employees striked for bathroom breaks, sick pay and safety standards.

      Also - how about instead of massive layoffs, Jeff Bezos has one less billion dollars 🙄 and spreads the wealth.
      Jul 17, 2019
  • Their sign says "we are humans, not robots." Jeff B: "I know I know, I am working on it"
    Jul 15, 2019 1
    • Amazon
      🌲$°

      Go to company page Amazon

      🌲$°
      This one says Alibaba, but same thing, for automated warehouses. The robots pick up more of the work over time, coordinating among themselves more efficiently.

      https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FBl4Y55V2Z4

      🤔The system looks like they just pained them over blue and slapped a different company logo on it. I guess patent enforcement is up to the country?
      Jul 16, 2019
  • Amazon
    Handsolo

    Go to company page Amazon

    Handsolo
    Anyone here work in an FC and can provide more information? All businesses are run by people and its generally the shitty management that causes problems. If FC work quality was so terrible, I would expect global strikes. lf there are strikes at a few facilities, could it just be poor leadership/management?
    Jul 16, 2019 6
    • Amazon / Design
      !!hotdog

      Go to company page Amazon Design

      !!hotdog
      If you work at Amazon or Facebook, two of the more high-standards-that-we-hold-people-to companies around, it’s easy to lose sight of how fucking lazy most people are.

      Years ago I worked in a factory, and worked retail, temp office jobs, etc. People are incredibly lazy.
      Jul 16, 2019
    • Amazon / Other
      / -

      Go to company page Amazon Other

      PRE
      Amazon
      BIO
      Why the fuck do you think I would put any personal information in an anonymous chat app? You seem really confused, @blind
      / -
      Fetch - things vary by location and department. My experience was nothing like yours. I couldn't stand around talking because I was part of the "fulfillment engine" that leads to packing and if I slacked off then the sorter and packer would fall behind. I couldn't take bathroom brakes becuase then the sorter and packet wouldn't receive any stuff to ship. I was 500 meters from the break room so it took about 5 minutes each way on my 15 minute break to get there (we weren't allowed to take a break at our stations because sitting down was a "safety violation", and we weren't allowed to have food on the floor anyway). The only way I could take a break was to flip the andon alarm and wait for a PG or PA to come cover me, and with 24 of us and 2 of them it was pretty unlikely that they'd arrive in any kind of convenient time.
      The rate for induction was barely attainable in ideal conditions for even the best rate leaders; you could win an award for moving 1000 units per hour even though the target rate was 1300. If you think about it from the Amazon management perspective, this is an advantageous setup for them becuase by setting an unattainable rate they can keep telling you to move faster and can get rid of you for failing to perform at an acceptable rate if they don't like you (for instance if you try to organize others in a protest or aren't in the management clique)
      Oh, and if you were part of their inner circle becuase you kissed their asses or hung out with them outside of work, you'd get the good stations which were only about 50 meters from the breakroom.
      So much bullshit going on in there, and there are some employees who swear that Amazon can do no wrong and the management are all of unimpeachable character and I guess they've just resigned themselves to a lifetime of warehouse work.
      My back and knees are still fucked up after only a year there. I was in the army for 6 years, and the fulfillment center memories are way more nightmarish than what I experienced in training or on Iraq deployments I managed to internally transfer after going to a web Dev bootcamp and I'll never work in one of those shitholes again. Fuck Amazon.
      Jul 18, 2019
  • If it is tough, why they chose the job in the first place. There are plenty of jobs outside. I thought most of the heavy lifting job is done by robots. Is it not true? Supply vs Demand problem. More employees wants to work at Amazon, I guess.
    Jul 16, 2019 4
    • Apple
      anon019283

      Go to company page Apple

      anon019283
      I know a logistics manager at a large facility for Amazon. It’s actually quite astonishing everything they track. The fact they track exactly how long it takes for an order to be placed to the time it’s on the truck and every metric in between. Damn is all I can say.

      I can understand why the employees don’t like it but they are free to get new jobs too. What they should worry about is getting what they are demanding. If that happens they won’t have a job anymore as the robots fully take over. They have that job now because of human labor being more cost effective than robots. Nothing more.
      Jul 16, 2019
    • REI
      user1938

      Go to company page REI

      user1938
      Actually several warehouses in the PNW have moved overseas or closed down, so no, a lot of people did not "choose" to work at Amazon, they chose to not be unemployed.
      Jul 17, 2019
  • Alibaba Group / HR
    gdruje

    Go to company page Alibaba Group HR

    BIO
    Why should anyone put a bio on blind? Who is your product guy?
    gdruje
    I don't understand, they're not unionized so I guess that they are free to go? No one forced them to stay, right? Then what is the point of the protesting?
    Jul 16, 2019 4