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This is just how capitalism works. It's about allocating capital in the most efficient way, and as far as Amazon is concerned workers are a dime a dozen. If wor
by brenden2 6y ago
This is just how capitalism works. It's about allocating capital in the most efficient way, and as far as Amazon is concerned workers are a dime a dozen. If workers complain, you can just fire them and hire someone else to do the job. This is especially true right now with the high unemployment rate.
If workers really want to improve their situation they would all need to unionize. It would require a significant portion of the workers to join, or else Amazon can just keep firing and replacing people. While I'm certainly pro-worker and pro-union, I think most of the demonstrations have been a tiny number of workers relative to Amazon's whole workforce.
Keep in mind that in the US there's a negative stigma attached to unionization thanks to many years of propaganda from "business leaders" who (obviously) are opposed to unionization because it eats into their profits.
- throwaway894345 6y agoIt's not just propaganda. Many of us come from union backgrounds--either our parents, siblings, etc were blue collar workers or teachers or police. We've heard lots of stories of unions creating all kinds of nonsense inefficiencies and then when someone is being targeted by management, the union does little or nothing to protect them. My best friend taught in a low income school district, he was forced out because he wouldn't pass the basketball team when they wouldn't take tests or turn in homework; the union wouldn't protect him. My dad has a dozen such stories because he worked in factories since he left the family farm. This doesn't mean unions can't work or that things would be better without them or that we shouldn't trend toward more unionization; it only means that there are real problems with unions and it's hard to trust pro-union people when they won't even acknowledge as much. For me, I hear Europeans raving about their unions, so clearly unions can work, but if the pro-union side intends to get more political support, it needs to articulate what it is about American unions that aren't working very well and how they intend to address those issues. Chalking it up to "propaganda" comes off as patronizing and naive at best.
- Thlom 6y agoAmerican unions, from my understanding, are less democratic and you lack the legal framework we have in parts of Europe which facilitates negotiations between unions and industry. Mind you, that framework didn’t come for free. It was fought for with blood sweat and tears.
- brenden2 6y agoYeah, the propaganda has been super effective.
- throwaway894345 6y agoI don’t understand your comment in the context of this thread.