4 ms·

Amazon Warns Employees Not to Trust Their Unionizing Co-Workers

63 points by pmoriarty 6y ago

GauntletWizard 6y ago
That giant reaper skeleton model is a favorite of mine. I'm impressed by the artistry on the Bezos head they've added to this one, but the frame is spot on for the ones I used to see around SF all the time. After a couple of times seeing it in different places, I noticed a marking on the black fabric in a specific place - Just a white paintstain. It was the same reaper, repurposed again and again; And then I started noticing that the dude with the protest sign was the same each time, too. Must be a sucky job, carting that thing around. I wonder how many portable installations there are.
jjtheblunt 6y ago
that title entirely contradicts personal evidence working for the same company.
- resoluteteeth 6y ago
  You work in Amazon's Staten Island warehouse?
  - jjtheblunt 6y ago
    No, engineering; it's not sanctioned company culture, but that doesn't preclude individual culture, obviously!
- amzn_throwaway5 6y ago
  Both the title and well paid engineers casually dismissing the legitimate concerns of FC workers exactly match my expectations from years of experience with Amazonian 'culture'.
  - jjtheblunt 6y ago
    I wonder/hope then what i see and you saw is improving over time.
LatteLazy 6y ago
>“Don't be misled by union organizers wearing Amazon vests--they are not part of Amazon,” Sounds like a reasonable statement to me. Imagine if Amazon management dressed up in union garb...
- pmoriarty 6y ago
  Except the whole point of the article is that these people are part of Amazon.
  - LatteLazy 6y ago
    Not while they're off the clock they're not. That's the point here. Don't be mislead if someone approaches you outside work in their uniform: they don't represent us. Arguing around the exact definition of "part of us" is a bit silly no?
    - andyana 6y ago
      That's strange. I always tell people that I work for my employer, even when it is off the clock.
      - chii 6y ago
        it's fine to tell people you work for a particular company. But if you do so in the expectation that said reputation would give you more credibility for whatever extra-curricular activities you are undertaking, then that would be fraud and wrong.
      - LatteLazy 6y ago
        So when you go to political demos or protests your opening pitch is I'm here as part of employer X? And you wear company swag? And your employer supports this?
    - joshuamorton 6y ago
      I don't think you read the article, because even Amazon isn't saying that. They're saying that one particular union organizer is no longer an Amazon employee, and using that to sow distrust about all of them.
CryptoPunk 6y ago
It should be noted that Vice's journalists are all unionized, and derive extra-contractual privileges, and a competitive advantage over competing workers, as a result of the anti-free market laws that beknight unions. https://variety.com/2017/digital/news/vice-media-unionization-writers-guild-editors-guild-1202565117/ https://variety.com/2017/digital/news/vice-media-unionizatio... As an example of the kinds of conflicts of interest that exist when media outlets write about unions: Vox writers, who eventually unionized, spent years publishing articles arguing for laws limiting the gig economy, like this one: "The gig economy has grown big, fast — and that’s a problem for workers" [1] Three years after the above article was published, its agenda succeeded, and a new anti-gig-economy law was passed in California. That law in turn forced Vox to let go of hundreds of gig economy freelancers, thus reducing competition to the full-time journalists who used their media platform to lobby for the law: "Vox Media to cut hundreds of freelance jobs ahead of changes in California gig economy laws" [2] The media being fully unionized means that it is extremely biased in its coverage of these kinds of stories. [1] https://www.vox.com/2016/10/26/13349498/gig-economy-profits-workers-desperate-services-labor https://www.vox.com/2016/10/26/13349498/gig-economy-profits-... [2] https://www.cnbc.com/2019/12/16/vox-media-to-cut-hundreds-of-freelance-jobs-ahead-of-californias-ab5.html https://www.cnbc.com/2019/12/16/vox-media-to-cut-hundreds-of...

63 points by pmoriarty 6y ago

That giant reaper skeleton model is a favorite of mine. I'm impressed by the artistry on the Bezos head they've added to this one, but the frame is spot on for the ones I used to see around SF all the time. After a couple of times seeing it in different places, I noticed a marking on the black fabric in a specific place - Just a white paintstain. It was the same reaper, repurposed again and again; And then I started noticing that the dude with the protest sign was the same each time, too. Must be a sucky job, carting that thing around. I wonder how many portable installations there are.

jjtheblunt 6y ago

that title entirely contradicts personal evidence working for the same company.

resoluteteeth 6y ago
You work in Amazon's Staten Island warehouse?
- jjtheblunt 6y ago
  No, engineering; it's not sanctioned company culture, but that doesn't preclude individual culture, obviously!
amzn_throwaway5 6y ago
Both the title and well paid engineers casually dismissing the legitimate concerns of FC workers exactly match my expectations from years of experience with Amazonian 'culture'.
- jjtheblunt 6y ago
  I wonder/hope then what i see and you saw is improving over time.

LatteLazy 6y ago

>“Don't be misled by union organizers wearing Amazon vests--they are not part of Amazon,” Sounds like a reasonable statement to me. Imagine if Amazon management dressed up in union garb...

pmoriarty 6y ago
Except the whole point of the article is that these people are part of Amazon.
- LatteLazy 6y ago
  Not while they're off the clock they're not. That's the point here. Don't be mislead if someone approaches you outside work in their uniform: they don't represent us. Arguing around the exact definition of "part of us" is a bit silly no?
  - andyana 6y ago
    That's strange. I always tell people that I work for my employer, even when it is off the clock.
    - chii 6y ago
      it's fine to tell people you work for a particular company. But if you do so in the expectation that said reputation would give you more credibility for whatever extra-curricular activities you are undertaking, then that would be fraud and wrong.
    - LatteLazy 6y ago
      So when you go to political demos or protests your opening pitch is I'm here as part of employer X? And you wear company swag? And your employer supports this?
  - joshuamorton 6y ago
    I don't think you read the article, because even Amazon isn't saying that. They're saying that one particular union organizer is no longer an Amazon employee, and using that to sow distrust about all of them.

CryptoPunk 6y ago

It should be noted that Vice's journalists are all unionized, and derive extra-contractual privileges, and a competitive advantage over competing workers, as a result of the anti-free market laws that beknight unions. https://variety.com/2017/digital/news/vice-media-unionization-writers-guild-editors-guild-1202565117/ https://variety.com/2017/digital/news/vice-media-unionizatio... As an example of the kinds of conflicts of interest that exist when media outlets write about unions: Vox writers, who eventually unionized, spent years publishing articles arguing for laws limiting the gig economy, like this one: "The gig economy has grown big, fast — and that’s a problem for workers" [1] Three years after the above article was published, its agenda succeeded, and a new anti-gig-economy law was passed in California. That law in turn forced Vox to let go of hundreds of gig economy freelancers, thus reducing competition to the full-time journalists who used their media platform to lobby for the law: "Vox Media to cut hundreds of freelance jobs ahead of changes in California gig economy laws" [2] The media being fully unionized means that it is extremely biased in its coverage of these kinds of stories. [1] https://www.vox.com/2016/10/26/13349498/gig-economy-profits-workers-desperate-services-labor https://www.vox.com/2016/10/26/13349498/gig-economy-profits-... [2] https://www.cnbc.com/2019/12/16/vox-media-to-cut-hundreds-of-freelance-jobs-ahead-of-californias-ab5.html https://www.cnbc.com/2019/12/16/vox-media-to-cut-hundreds-of...