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Activist employees are the worst. Instead of focusing on their job duties, these workers clearly were focused on their campaign to make Amazon, their employer,

Activist employees are the worst. Instead of focusing on their job duties, these workers clearly were focused on their campaign to make Amazon, their employer, look bad publicly. When one tactic (climate justice) wasn't getting them enough attention, they switched their tactics to pandemic safety. It's the switch of agendas here that is telling as to their true motives. They both got what they deserved, and Amazon's only mistake was not putting them on a PIP and firing them for performance reasons, which would have been a lot more defensible than a policy violation. I'm sure in all their time spent organizing their job duties suffered demonstrably. Can you imagine the collateral damage they caused to their department in all of this? Imagine just trying to do your job and having to deal with these two on your team.

arcticbull 6y ago
I'm confident the CEO of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory felt the same way about their "women" asking to not be locked inside in case of fire. [1] Labor activism ([edit] to be read as 'a healthy tension between labor and capital') is good for everyone -- in fact you're a beneficiary. Weekends exist because of organized labor. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triangle_Shirtwaist_Factory_fire https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triangle_Shirtwaist_Factory_fi...
dumbfoundded 6y ago
Maybe at very small companies this opinion makes sense but at 4th largest company in the world, we absolutely need these people. We only have some semblance of workers' rights due to activists and conditions will only improve because of them.
thomastjeffery 6y ago
People aren't tools. Amazon doesn't by virtue of being a business deserve apolitical drones to do its bidding. That's the entire point of unions. Employers have too much leverage over employees, so employees have to use activism to counterbalance. > these workers clearly were focused on their campaign to make Amazon, their employer, look bad publicly. So the question you are begging is, "Is Amazon privately bad?" From what I have heard about the company over the last few months, the answer is likely, "Yes." So shouldn't the employees who have the most leverage be the most politically active? How else do we reconcile the inherent leverage a "bad" corporation has over its employees? > Imagine just trying to do your job and having to deal with these two on your team. Imagine trying to just do your job, but knowing it's all for a corporation that is treating other employees extremely poorly; and fighting to keep its leverage over them. Don't you have a moral imperative to do something about it? Do you actually instead have a moral imperative to keep your head down and focus on your work? I find that notion outrageous.
cambalache 6y ago
> Activist employees are the worst. Totally agree. What have all those fuckers achieved? I mean, besides: - The week-end - The end of child labor - Parental leave - Occupational Hazard Protection: "Although any group of workers could stage a wildcat strike, strong union organization was necessary to prevent employer retaliation against workers who acted aggressively to preserve their health and safety. Describing the findings of a coroner’s jury on the causes of a 1914 mining accident, the United Mine Workers Journal caustically remarked that the jury’s verdict should havebeen “Death was due to lack of organization” * * https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.2190/NS.24.3.d https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.2190/NS.24.3.d ORGANIZED LABOR AND THE ORIGINS OF THE OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ACT
uoaei 6y ago
You are comfortable with giving up your own inalienable human rights upon starting a shift, that's fine. But it seems a little absurd to demand that others do the same.

arcticbull 6y ago

I'm confident the CEO of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory felt the same way about their "women" asking to not be locked inside in case of fire. [1] Labor activism ([edit] to be read as 'a healthy tension between labor and capital') is good for everyone -- in fact you're a beneficiary. Weekends exist because of organized labor. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triangle_Shirtwaist_Factory_fire https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triangle_Shirtwaist_Factory_fi...

dumbfoundded 6y ago

Maybe at very small companies this opinion makes sense but at 4th largest company in the world, we absolutely need these people. We only have some semblance of workers' rights due to activists and conditions will only improve because of them.

thomastjeffery 6y ago

People aren't tools. Amazon doesn't by virtue of being a business deserve apolitical drones to do its bidding. That's the entire point of unions. Employers have too much leverage over employees, so employees have to use activism to counterbalance. > these workers clearly were focused on their campaign to make Amazon, their employer, look bad publicly. So the question you are begging is, "Is Amazon privately bad?" From what I have heard about the company over the last few months, the answer is likely, "Yes." So shouldn't the employees who have the most leverage be the most politically active? How else do we reconcile the inherent leverage a "bad" corporation has over its employees? > Imagine just trying to do your job and having to deal with these two on your team. Imagine trying to just do your job, but knowing it's all for a corporation that is treating other employees extremely poorly; and fighting to keep its leverage over them. Don't you have a moral imperative to do something about it? Do you actually instead have a moral imperative to keep your head down and focus on your work? I find that notion outrageous.

cambalache 6y ago

> Activist employees are the worst. Totally agree. What have all those fuckers achieved? I mean, besides: - The week-end - The end of child labor - Parental leave - Occupational Hazard Protection: "Although any group of workers could stage a wildcat strike, strong union organization was necessary to prevent employer retaliation against workers who acted aggressively to preserve their health and safety. Describing the findings of a coroner’s jury on the causes of a 1914 mining accident, the United Mine Workers Journal caustically remarked that the jury’s verdict should havebeen “Death was due to lack of organization” * * https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.2190/NS.24.3.d https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.2190/NS.24.3.d ORGANIZED LABOR AND THE ORIGINS OF THE OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ACT

uoaei 6y ago

You are comfortable with giving up your own inalienable human rights upon starting a shift, that's fine. But it seems a little absurd to demand that others do the same.