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This Vice story is just part of the smear campaign. Strategy: “We should spend the first part of our response strongly laying out the case for why the organize

This Vice story is just part of the smear campaign. Strategy: “We should spend the first part of our response strongly laying out the case for why the organizer’s conduct was immoral, unacceptable, and arguably illegal, in detail, and only then follow with our usual talking points about worker safety,” Zapolsky wrote. “Make him the most interesting part of the story, and if possible make him the face of the entire union/organizing movement.” As applied: “I was frustrated and upset that an Amazon employee would endanger the health and safety of other Amazonians by repeatedly returning to the premises after having been warned to quarantine himself after exposure to virus Covid-19,” he said. “I let my emotions draft my words and get the better of me.”

claudeganon 7y ago
I don’t think this tracks. If anything, it exposed that all of Amazon’s statements around this are not in anyway to be trusted.
- wmeredith 7y ago
  Agreed. They are totally exposed as arguing in bad faith. All of their statements on this will be tainted.
notJim 7y ago
They call this message discipline. When the press asks you about something, always bring it back to your talking points.
- lozenge 7y ago
  Yep, literally applying the strategy Vice exposed, in the article exposing it.
anigbrowl 7y ago
“I let my emotions draft my words and get the better of me.” What a pathetic excuse from the General Counsel of one of the world's most powerful firms when caught engaging in employee retaliation. This isn't acceptable from any lawyer.
- guitarbill 7y ago
  if you were cynical, you might say this is just yet another attempt at spin; to present himself as a relatable human (like "we all get angry, we all make mistakes", although note he didn't use e.g. angry, but "frustrated", "upset", and "emotions", vaguer and more passive options). this could work, too, as long as you forget that drafting words seems to literally be his job (for which i'm sure he's handsomely rewarded).
- throwanem 7y ago
  Lifting it from one of my comments downthread: Better to make the world's worst excuse than lie in a way that'll instantly be revealed in discovery for any case that comes of this. The surprise is that he let himself be reached for comment at all. Between that and the "yeah, I sure goofed it, huh?" style of what he said when he was, I wouldn't be too astonished to see a golden handshake eventuate in the fullness of time.
- ape4 7y ago
  Not smart or articulate.
A4ET8a8uTh0 7y ago
Oddly, it reminds me of the way big banks handled Occupy movement. That was the first time I saw memes used as a carrier for straight propaganda. It was a sad moment for me. Mostly because having seen one of those memes, I immediately understood how terrifyingly effective they can be. Amazon has clearly learned a lot over the past few decades. odd edit: Just in case. I was kinda doing a fair amount of shorts on Amazon lately, so my opinion is not unbiased.
- pas 7y ago
  Could you show a few of those memes from back then?
  - jshevek 7y ago
    I'm also interested. I was paying attention to memes during that period and don't remember any which fit.
  - A4ET8a8uTh0 7y ago
    I dug through my hdd and for the life of my I could not find the ones I was thinking of ( maybe it is time to finally tag my stuff properly ). I looked online and I was only able to find one example of what I was thinking of ( https://awwmemes.com/i/spreads-message-of-anti-capitalism-from-his-apple-computer-2nerd-com-get-dc335a50639b4fbb9ee3193163f244bb https://awwmemes.com/i/spreads-message-of-anti-capitalism-fr... ). The one I remember was equally silly along the lines of "hates banks, uses money = hypocrite". I will keep digging, because I know what I am looking for and it is not ancient history. I should have it somewhere.
    - ric2b 7y ago
      Those are extremely lazy and I don't understand how someone takes them seriously. It's like saying: "Kidnapped victim runs away by shooting the captor's knee... with the captor's gun, hypocrite much?!"
      - A4ET8a8uTh0 7y ago

claudeganon 7y ago

I don’t think this tracks. If anything, it exposed that all of Amazon’s statements around this are not in anyway to be trusted.

wmeredith 7y ago
Agreed. They are totally exposed as arguing in bad faith. All of their statements on this will be tainted.

notJim 7y ago

They call this message discipline. When the press asks you about something, always bring it back to your talking points.

lozenge 7y ago
Yep, literally applying the strategy Vice exposed, in the article exposing it.

anigbrowl 7y ago

“I let my emotions draft my words and get the better of me.” What a pathetic excuse from the General Counsel of one of the world's most powerful firms when caught engaging in employee retaliation. This isn't acceptable from any lawyer.

guitarbill 7y ago
if you were cynical, you might say this is just yet another attempt at spin; to present himself as a relatable human (like "we all get angry, we all make mistakes", although note he didn't use e.g. angry, but "frustrated", "upset", and "emotions", vaguer and more passive options). this could work, too, as long as you forget that drafting words seems to literally be his job (for which i'm sure he's handsomely rewarded).
throwanem 7y ago
Lifting it from one of my comments downthread: Better to make the world's worst excuse than lie in a way that'll instantly be revealed in discovery for any case that comes of this. The surprise is that he let himself be reached for comment at all. Between that and the "yeah, I sure goofed it, huh?" style of what he said when he was, I wouldn't be too astonished to see a golden handshake eventuate in the fullness of time.
ape4 7y ago
Not smart or articulate.

A4ET8a8uTh0 7y ago

Oddly, it reminds me of the way big banks handled Occupy movement. That was the first time I saw memes used as a carrier for straight propaganda. It was a sad moment for me. Mostly because having seen one of those memes, I immediately understood how terrifyingly effective they can be. Amazon has clearly learned a lot over the past few decades. odd edit: Just in case. I was kinda doing a fair amount of shorts on Amazon lately, so my opinion is not unbiased.

pas 7y ago
Could you show a few of those memes from back then?
- jshevek 7y ago
  I'm also interested. I was paying attention to memes during that period and don't remember any which fit.
- A4ET8a8uTh0 7y ago
  I dug through my hdd and for the life of my I could not find the ones I was thinking of ( maybe it is time to finally tag my stuff properly ). I looked online and I was only able to find one example of what I was thinking of ( https://awwmemes.com/i/spreads-message-of-anti-capitalism-from-his-apple-computer-2nerd-com-get-dc335a50639b4fbb9ee3193163f244bb https://awwmemes.com/i/spreads-message-of-anti-capitalism-fr... ). The one I remember was equally silly along the lines of "hates banks, uses money = hypocrite". I will keep digging, because I know what I am looking for and it is not ancient history. I should have it somewhere.
  - ric2b 7y ago
    Those are extremely lazy and I don't understand how someone takes them seriously. It's like saying: "Kidnapped victim runs away by shooting the captor's knee... with the captor's gun, hypocrite much?!"
    - A4ET8a8uTh0 7y ago