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From what I saw here though, the workers don't want a union and the teamsters seem to be trying to force one in regardless? There was a vote, and from what I re
by esyir 5y ago
From what I saw here though, the workers don't want a union and the teamsters seem to be trying to force one in regardless? There was a vote, and from what I remember it wasn't even close. Does this coercion not impact its legitimacy in your eyes?
- function_seven 5y agoOne vote cast in one warehouse doesn't necessarily represent the workforce as a whole. 1. That particular workforce is making above-market wages for their area. They looked at what a union might be able to deliver and decided they didn't want to rock the boat. 2. Any single location voting for union representation knows that there's a good chance management will just shutdown the whole operation. Like Wal-Mart did. Amazon could easily jettison a "troublesome" warehouse and continue doing business. Game-theoretically, it would benefit them as a message to other locations that might be flirting with organizing. I'm not sure what coercion you're seeing in their new strategy.
- adgjlsfhk1 5y agoIt's also worth noting that the NLSB is currently investigating Amazon for illegally pressuring workers to vote against unionizing.
- function_seven 5y agoTrue. I took the Bessemer results at face value in my comment, but of course there's also that possibility. Which kind of dovetails into #2 above. ("Boss says if this place unionizes, we're all out of a job")
- esyir 5y agoI'm definitely all for punitive measures on amazon if they're found guilty there. That also works invalidate the results in my book. That's an if, though.
- svnpenn 5y agoFound the Amazon shill
- dang 5y agoWe've had to ask you repeatedly already to stop breaking the site guidelines: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25773231 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25773231 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20733119 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20733119 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20537509 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20537509 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18639962 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18639962 Now you've done so again, and also in other places like https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27235390 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27235390 and https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26200463 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26200463. You unfortunately have a history of attacking other users and, frankly, being an asshole on HN. That's not cool. I don't want to ban you, so would you please fix this? The rules are here: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html.
- ehnto 5y agoIt is hard to take such a vote seriously in either direction. The employees end up in the middle of two powers pushing and pulling them both ways. I think you would have to ask employees what they want, union or not, and figure out if a union is the right way to achieve that.
- pydry 5y agoAmazon managed to play around a lot with the cohort deemed qualified to vote. A lot of the people the Union convinced ended up being swapped out with newbies who had only been exposed to anti-union propaganda and hadn't seen what the job really had to offer yet. There's always a contingent of people who are afraid that the center will close if they vote to unionize and will lose their jobs (even though it's technically illegal).
- Ericson2314 5y agoBessemer is the type of place where fear of things being worse easily overcomes hope of things being better. Asking the most precarious to make the first bold move doesn't feel right.
- akiselev 5y agoAn HM commenter provided some context after the vote in Bessemer [1], equating it to a slum. Another commenter quoted from Wikipedia: > "Crime increased following the rise in unemployment and social disruption from the decline of manufacturing industries in the area. As of 2019 Bessemer ranks first in terms of violent crimes for US cities with 25,000 or more people." [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26752316 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26752316
- chasd00 5y agoThe teamsters just want their dues, they see Amazon as a big fat cash cow waiting to be milked. They’re not even going the vote route and now just flat out threatening Amazon “force your employees to pay our dues or something may start happening to your deliveries”.
- pydry 5y agoWhereas Amazon you think has a grander purpose beyond milking profits out of a monopoly?
- Aperocky 5y agoAmazon is a for profit company, that makes having no other grander purpose way less hypothetical.
- pydry 5y agoThey claim to be customer obsessed but they're seemingly happy to be the conduit for overpriced fake garbage if it gins their next quarter results. They will use their size and wealth to destroy competition like diapers.com and carve our a monopoly, presumably so they can sell worse quality crap at a higher price. Why is it scandalous if Teamsters have a "dues motive" that mirrors (probably not even as strongly) Amazon's "profit motive" if this is the stream of wealth they're tapping? Are unions only moral if run by ascetic monks?
- Aperocky 5y ago> overpriced fake garbage if it gins their next quarter results. It has been quite a number of next quarters and if it is really hot garbage wouldn't people ditch Amazon? Amazon is not exactly a new entrant to the market. > They will use their size and wealth to destroy competition like diapers.com and carve our a monopoly, presumably so they can sell worse quality crap at a higher price. You can't have a monopoly on diapers. If diapers.com fold it would be because people don't want to know 300 websites to buy individual goods than it is Amazon. Oh, and maybe they're more expensive, not less.