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Amazon warehouse workers 'peed in bottles' fearing punishment for taking breaks

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Re: Amazon warehouse workers 'peed in bottles' fearing punishment for taking breaks

#81

Post by frgtpsswrdlame »

atrexler wrote: post #23

Long-haul truckers have been doing this for decades for the same reason-- they don't have time to pull over and use the restroom-- and no one is upset about that. I'm sure there are many industries, white and blue collar, where similar norms are expressed. Edit to add: I'm not endorsing the practice in any industry at all, just pointing out that its not a unique problem to Amazon. My comment would have been better ph…

Why shouldn't we be upset about long-haul truckers peeing in bottles? That seems inhumane to me as well.

Re: Amazon warehouse workers 'peed in bottles' fearing punishment for taking breaks

#82

Post by wnevets »

notheguyouthink wrote: post #2

Are Amazon's margins razor thin? I'm trying to understand what compels them to be so toxic in their work environment. Especially compared to the people I know who work at Costco, I struggle to understand why Costco treats employees so well, and Amazon treats their employees so poorly. It's really sad, regardless.

> I'm trying to understand what compels them to be so toxic in their work environment.

Their warehouse employees are extremely replaceable and amazon knows this.

Re: Amazon warehouse workers 'peed in bottles' fearing punishment for taking breaks

#83

Post by monetus »

TaylorAlexander wrote: post #47

My fear is that the future of work for most people is not unemployment, but shitty jobs like this. My feeling is that in order to avoid this and prosper, the people need to own the robots that do all the work (Marxism heyy). If robots provide huge productivity gains, then they will provide those gains for their owners. If it’s the big corporations that own them, they will see the gains. But as long as people are trea…

In the absence of strong incentives to start employee owned businesses, I don't see the problems that creates those jobs being assuaged...

Re: Amazon warehouse workers 'peed in bottles' fearing punishment for taking breaks

#84

Post by mistersquid »

aqme28 wrote: post #72
kelukelugames wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bezos. Jeff Bezos is the reason why Amazon treats workers they way they do. Compared to other tech giants, Amazon is incredibly anti-employee. Look at how their stocks vest. I worked at Microsoft during Balmer's reign. The founder/CEO's attitude dictates the work culture. And causes harm if it's bad. I live in Seattle and often hear this joke: Being an Amazon customer is the best. An investor is great. An employee no…

How does their stock vest?

Amazon offers a RSU vesting schedule of 5%, 15%, and 40% over 4 years. [0]

[0] https://www.quora.com/Amazon-offers-a-RSU-vesting-schedule-o...

Re: Amazon warehouse workers 'peed in bottles' fearing punishment for taking breaks

#85

Post by temp-dude-87844 »

Consultant32452 wrote: post #40

What's so special about Amazon in comparison to the Chinese factories where those goods are manufactured? Are we just upset because these people are geographically closer? Or is it nationalism; Americans/Westerners are too good for such treatment? Racism?

Maybe those too. But there's a certain amount of intentional deference that comes with advocating for free(-er) trade, as you accept that the regulatory regime isn't the same everywhere. In other words, the advantages of cheap goods counteracts some of the guilt of being complicit in an exploitative scheme somewhere far away, forced upon people of a foreign country by bosses of a foreign country.

These are the sorts of abuses that are more upsetting when they happen to people that are more immediately relatable ("people like you and me", "your friends and neighbors"), and when they are directly perpetuated by a company that should be subject to a familiar regulatory regime.

Re: Amazon warehouse workers 'peed in bottles' fearing punishment for taking breaks

#86

Post by cafard »

atrexler wrote: post #23

Long-haul truckers have been doing this for decades for the same reason-- they don't have time to pull over and use the restroom-- and no one is upset about that. I'm sure there are many industries, white and blue collar, where similar norms are expressed. Edit to add: I'm not endorsing the practice in any industry at all, just pointing out that its not a unique problem to Amazon. My comment would have been better ph…

Actually, long-haul truckers are required to keep logs showing that they are taking adequate rest: the public doesn't want people stoned on lack of sleep to be driving big rigs. Do a lot of long-haul truckers falsify their logs? So I understand. But I suspect they get more slack.

Re: Amazon warehouse workers 'peed in bottles' fearing punishment for taking breaks

#87

Post by noonespecial »

TaylorAlexander wrote: post #47

My fear is that the future of work for most people is not unemployment, but shitty jobs like this. My feeling is that in order to avoid this and prosper, the people need to own the robots that do all the work (Marxism heyy). If robots provide huge productivity gains, then they will provide those gains for their owners. If it’s the big corporations that own them, they will see the gains. But as long as people are trea…

But I do already own some of the robots. I have Amazon stock in my 401k. That's what "the people owning the robots" looks like.

What you're getting at is that there are many people right now who are too poor (and are going to be too poor) to ever own any part of the robots.

This century's great debate is forming up to be whether or not we should give them some anyway even though they can't "earn" it for whatever moving value of earn society is currently accepting.

Re: Amazon warehouse workers 'peed in bottles' fearing punishment for taking breaks

#88

Post by aylmao »

timdorr wrote: post #51
aylmao wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> which you could just turn around and buy stocks with. Which just benefits the company even further? Edit: if you downvote please reply. How will I correct my stance if I get no feedback? I'm not sure why I'm getting down voted. Edit: Thanks for the comments. I did assume this meant Amazon stock. Didn't think my comment sounded so combative until I was told.

If you're buying AMZN on the market, that's coming from other investors, not the company itself. It's already sold that stock (the IPO was back in 96) and benefited directly from it at that time.

Not trying to be combative! Just providing a counter argument. Although it doesn't directly and immediately benefit a company, doesn't having lots of buy interest keep the stock price high, which _is_ beneficial for the company in general?

Re: Amazon warehouse workers 'peed in bottles' fearing punishment for taking breaks

#89

Post by creep »

TaylorAlexander wrote: post #47

My fear is that the future of work for most people is not unemployment, but shitty jobs like this. My feeling is that in order to avoid this and prosper, the people need to own the robots that do all the work (Marxism heyy). If robots provide huge productivity gains, then they will provide those gains for their owners. If it’s the big corporations that own them, they will see the gains. But as long as people are trea…

Sounds interesting, but also like a lot of bureaucracy. What happens when the people want to change the way the robots are operating? What if the robots don't do exactly what they're told? Who manages manufacturing robots vs transportation robots vs communications robots? Would the people have to elect representatives to deal with the robots?

Re: Amazon warehouse workers 'peed in bottles' fearing punishment for taking breaks

#90

Post by kevmo »

atrexler wrote: post #23

Long-haul truckers have been doing this for decades for the same reason-- they don't have time to pull over and use the restroom-- and no one is upset about that. I'm sure there are many industries, white and blue collar, where similar norms are expressed. Edit to add: I'm not endorsing the practice in any industry at all, just pointing out that its not a unique problem to Amazon. My comment would have been better ph…

My dad was a long-haul trucker for 20+ years. I did some hauls with him. I can confirm that peeing in bottles is the norm.
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