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This is going to be controversial, but Amazon in my mind is one of those companies that gets a pass. They needed to move fast and get people supplies. If that h

This is going to be controversial, but Amazon in my mind is one of those companies that gets a pass. They needed to move fast and get people supplies. If that hadn't, there would have been bigger issues. Very sad all of this is happening, but Amazon should get a little slack.

threatofrain 6y ago
In the context of national lockdown, Amazon is basically of national security importance right now as Amazon not working right would’ve killed any lockdown strategy. America doesn’t have enough slack for Amazon to bow out in any way. This should’ve been very clear when we talk about any shutdown — things were never going to work if we all insisted on the same level of sacrifice. Amazon workers must keep working, just as food and transportation workers had to keep going at any cost, and next will be the teachers inside closed rooms with 30 or 40 kids.
- Avicebron 6y ago
  Isn't it a little questionable that we are discussing one singular company as being a requirement for a country to remain functional? is this peak capitalism, a monopoly has a country by it's throat and doesn't pay taxes in said country?
  - krapp 6y ago
    >is this peak capitalism, a monopoly has a country by it's throat and doesn't pay taxes in said country? It's not actually true. I'm not aware of any lockdown or shelter in place orders which don't allow people to buy food or necessities, and plenty of essential businesses remain open, and also deliver. Also, the vast majority of items being shipped by Amazon remain non-essential goods. Amazon may well be helping people, but their necessity in keeping the country running is overstated.
- milquetoastaf 6y ago
  Give me a break. America does not run on AMZN. Didn't Amazon lose market share during this? They are FAR from the only online retailer despite their ubiquity - they don't even have the majority of the market.
- CoffeeDregs 6y ago
  This is an excellent point and one I had not considered. I'm generally anti-intervention but do strongly support the notion of driving diversity-of-business within markets. A common measure of market concentration is a sum of squares of market-share percentages (see: https://www.justice.gov/atr/herfindahl-hirschman-index https://www.justice.gov/atr/herfindahl-hirschman-index). I'm not sure exactly what to do about this right now but I would suspect Amazon is a huge percentage of the distribution-to-the-home market so should be looked at closely. Their position could be good if they provide excellent Covid policies/procedures (and would be much worse to have a large diversity of participants with poor Covid P&Ps), but could be quite bad if people got scared of Amazon and effectively shutdown-by-virtue-of-disuse a large percentage of the distribution infrastructure in the US...
kevingadd 6y ago
They had the resources to do a better job and to do it earlier. They dragged their feet for some reason and people paid for it. It's why employees were protesting: not because they didn't want to work, but because they wanted to work safely. Some warehouses had insufficient safety practices or didn't have enough access to things like soap, gloves and hand sanitizer.
- krapp 6y ago
  >They dragged their feet for some reason and people paid for it. They did spend a lot of money on a propaganda campaign encouraging workers to keep working and not take time off because they were "heroes" on the front lines saving lives. Gotta remember what Amazon's actual priorities are.
kjaftaedi 6y ago
I would tend to agree, but the company has a track record of putting employees last. The company went out of their way to force workers not to get paid for the half-hour each day they wait for security checks, not to mention the peeing in bottles due to how they structure break time. Given their track record, an employee hostile company like Amazon likely contributed to the situation and was not just a regular victim of circumstance.
- CheeseCookie 6y ago
  I absolutely agree, I have no empathy for companies like Amazon just because how they treat their employees
milquetoastaf 6y ago
No they shouldn't "get a pass". This is a trillion dollar corporation that is frugal to the bone. They are putting lives at risk to eek out money. It's disgusting - and telling of how morally bankrupt the tech sector is right now - that people think they deserve a pass.
supercanuck 6y ago
No, Amazon should compensate people for their risk. If being a Warehouse Worker means risking your life or reduced lung capacity, how can we justify this as a %15 an hour job with poor health care benefits.

threatofrain 6y ago

In the context of national lockdown, Amazon is basically of national security importance right now as Amazon not working right would’ve killed any lockdown strategy. America doesn’t have enough slack for Amazon to bow out in any way. This should’ve been very clear when we talk about any shutdown — things were never going to work if we all insisted on the same level of sacrifice. Amazon workers must keep working, just as food and transportation workers had to keep going at any cost, and next will be the teachers inside closed rooms with 30 or 40 kids.

Avicebron 6y ago
Isn't it a little questionable that we are discussing one singular company as being a requirement for a country to remain functional? is this peak capitalism, a monopoly has a country by it's throat and doesn't pay taxes in said country?
- krapp 6y ago
  >is this peak capitalism, a monopoly has a country by it's throat and doesn't pay taxes in said country? It's not actually true. I'm not aware of any lockdown or shelter in place orders which don't allow people to buy food or necessities, and plenty of essential businesses remain open, and also deliver. Also, the vast majority of items being shipped by Amazon remain non-essential goods. Amazon may well be helping people, but their necessity in keeping the country running is overstated.
milquetoastaf 6y ago
Give me a break. America does not run on AMZN. Didn't Amazon lose market share during this? They are FAR from the only online retailer despite their ubiquity - they don't even have the majority of the market.
CoffeeDregs 6y ago
This is an excellent point and one I had not considered. I'm generally anti-intervention but do strongly support the notion of driving diversity-of-business within markets. A common measure of market concentration is a sum of squares of market-share percentages (see: https://www.justice.gov/atr/herfindahl-hirschman-index https://www.justice.gov/atr/herfindahl-hirschman-index). I'm not sure exactly what to do about this right now but I would suspect Amazon is a huge percentage of the distribution-to-the-home market so should be looked at closely. Their position could be good if they provide excellent Covid policies/procedures (and would be much worse to have a large diversity of participants with poor Covid P&Ps), but could be quite bad if people got scared of Amazon and effectively shutdown-by-virtue-of-disuse a large percentage of the distribution infrastructure in the US...

kevingadd 6y ago

They had the resources to do a better job and to do it earlier. They dragged their feet for some reason and people paid for it. It's why employees were protesting: not because they didn't want to work, but because they wanted to work safely. Some warehouses had insufficient safety practices or didn't have enough access to things like soap, gloves and hand sanitizer.

krapp 6y ago
>They dragged their feet for some reason and people paid for it. They did spend a lot of money on a propaganda campaign encouraging workers to keep working and not take time off because they were "heroes" on the front lines saving lives. Gotta remember what Amazon's actual priorities are.

kjaftaedi 6y ago

I would tend to agree, but the company has a track record of putting employees last. The company went out of their way to force workers not to get paid for the half-hour each day they wait for security checks, not to mention the peeing in bottles due to how they structure break time. Given their track record, an employee hostile company like Amazon likely contributed to the situation and was not just a regular victim of circumstance.

CheeseCookie 6y ago
I absolutely agree, I have no empathy for companies like Amazon just because how they treat their employees

milquetoastaf 6y ago

No they shouldn't "get a pass". This is a trillion dollar corporation that is frugal to the bone. They are putting lives at risk to eek out money. It's disgusting - and telling of how morally bankrupt the tech sector is right now - that people think they deserve a pass.

supercanuck 6y ago

No, Amazon should compensate people for their risk. If being a Warehouse Worker means risking your life or reduced lung capacity, how can we justify this as a %15 an hour job with poor health care benefits.