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https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/amazon-protests-workers-urinate-plastic-bottles-no-toilet-breaks-milton-keynes-jeff-bezos-a9012351.html https://

by akudha 6y ago

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/amazon-protests-workers-urinate-plastic-bottles-no-toilet-breaks-milton-keynes-jeff-bezos-a9012351.html https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/amazon-prote... pregnant women have been forced to stand for hours on end, with some pregnant women being targeted for dismissal You don't think that is wrong? If your philosophy is to put profits above everything else, then I suppose Amazon is amazing.

seibelj 6y ago
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/12/14/united-auto-workers-union-settles-civil-charges-in-corruption-probe-with-justice-department.html https://www.cnbc.com/2020/12/14/united-auto-workers-union-se... United Auto Workers union settles corruption probe with Justice Department “During our five-year investigation, we have uncovered a startling level of corruption and fraud by a number of senior leaders of the UAW.” The probe has led to the convictions of 15 people, including two past UAW presidents, three Fiat Chrysler executives and a former GM board member who was a union leader. The United Autoworkers Union, one of the largest in America, robbed its members of tens of millions of dollars to enrich the corrupt union officials at the top. https://reason.com/2019/04/09/janus-211000-workers-fled-seiu-afscme/ https://reason.com/2019/04/09/janus-211000-workers-fled-seiu... Two of the largest public sector unions in the country lost more than 210,000 so-called "agency fee members" in the wake of last year's Supreme Court ruling that said unions could no longer force non-members to pay partial dues. Even though unions were preparing for a mass exodus in the wake of the Janus ruling, the numbers are staggering. In 2017, AFSCME reported having 112,233 agency fee payers (compared to 1.3 million dues-paying members), but that figure dropped to just 2,215 in the union's 2018 report. The SEIU reported having 104,501 agency fee-payers in 2017 (compared to 1,919,358 dues-paying members), but just 5,812 of them at the end of 2018. Unions can't get their members to voluntarily join and pay fees. If they really were so good, why do they need coercion to get people to join? All union membership should be voluntary. Convince people to join and pay fees by their own free will, don't force them by law or social pressure. Are there some one-off cases of bad situations at Amazon? Yes, for sure. Just as unions are not a panacea, neither is every warehouse in an 800,000 person company.
- akudha 6y ago
  At this point, you are simply arguing in bad faith. Nobody is claiming that unions are a solution for everything. But companies like Amazon go to extraordinary lengths to prevent unionization, while at the same time treating their employees like shit. And Amazon is not alone in this. In the US, companies are generally hostile to unions. And they make sure they fund anti union politicians too. Unions have their problems, nobody is disputing that. Even with all their problems, it is better to have unions than not have them at all. Also, it is not one off case with Amazon. Have you thought about what a person can do with 200B dollars? Why would one need that much money? Sure, if they made it without fucking up the environment, without treating their employees badly, without bending tax rules etc etc, then more power to them. But that is not the case, is it? In combat sports, there are weight categories and there are strict rules. Know why? It provides a level playing field. In today's capitalism, there is no level playing field. It is like a 100 pound man (workers) fighting a 300 pound man (wealthy companies with politicians in their pockets). If you want to continue to argue that unchecked capitalism is the way to go, it is upto you.

by akudha 6y ago

seibelj 6y ago

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/12/14/united-auto-workers-union-settles-civil-charges-in-corruption-probe-with-justice-department.html https://www.cnbc.com/2020/12/14/united-auto-workers-union-se... United Auto Workers union settles corruption probe with Justice Department “During our five-year investigation, we have uncovered a startling level of corruption and fraud by a number of senior leaders of the UAW.” The probe has led to the convictions of 15 people, including two past UAW presidents, three Fiat Chrysler executives and a former GM board member who was a union leader. The United Autoworkers Union, one of the largest in America, robbed its members of tens of millions of dollars to enrich the corrupt union officials at the top. https://reason.com/2019/04/09/janus-211000-workers-fled-seiu-afscme/ https://reason.com/2019/04/09/janus-211000-workers-fled-seiu... Two of the largest public sector unions in the country lost more than 210,000 so-called "agency fee members" in the wake of last year's Supreme Court ruling that said unions could no longer force non-members to pay partial dues. Even though unions were preparing for a mass exodus in the wake of the Janus ruling, the numbers are staggering. In 2017, AFSCME reported having 112,233 agency fee payers (compared to 1.3 million dues-paying members), but that figure dropped to just 2,215 in the union's 2018 report. The SEIU reported having 104,501 agency fee-payers in 2017 (compared to 1,919,358 dues-paying members), but just 5,812 of them at the end of 2018. Unions can't get their members to voluntarily join and pay fees. If they really were so good, why do they need coercion to get people to join? All union membership should be voluntary. Convince people to join and pay fees by their own free will, don't force them by law or social pressure. Are there some one-off cases of bad situations at Amazon? Yes, for sure. Just as unions are not a panacea, neither is every warehouse in an 800,000 person company.

akudha 6y ago
At this point, you are simply arguing in bad faith. Nobody is claiming that unions are a solution for everything. But companies like Amazon go to extraordinary lengths to prevent unionization, while at the same time treating their employees like shit. And Amazon is not alone in this. In the US, companies are generally hostile to unions. And they make sure they fund anti union politicians too. Unions have their problems, nobody is disputing that. Even with all their problems, it is better to have unions than not have them at all. Also, it is not one off case with Amazon. Have you thought about what a person can do with 200B dollars? Why would one need that much money? Sure, if they made it without fucking up the environment, without treating their employees badly, without bending tax rules etc etc, then more power to them. But that is not the case, is it? In combat sports, there are weight categories and there are strict rules. Know why? It provides a level playing field. In today's capitalism, there is no level playing field. It is like a 100 pound man (workers) fighting a 300 pound man (wealthy companies with politicians in their pockets). If you want to continue to argue that unchecked capitalism is the way to go, it is upto you.