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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

#461

Post by pkaye »

ghostbrainalpha wrote: post #54
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…

I don't know about that joke anymore. Being an Amazon customer used to be great, but the deliveries are bordering on ridiculously horrible now. I order something on Prime, then it doesn't show up when I expect it to, I get no notification of any delays, and then when I log in to see what's going on they have changed the original expected date so I can't even see what I was originally promised unless I took a screen s…

Also they don't give price adjustments for most of the products they sell. I bought a book and the day after I received it, the price dropped 30%. The customer support would not refund the difference. Instead I had to ship back the product first and buy it again. Now to ship it back, I have to pay the shipping unless I lie and say it was defective or go to their Amazon store in San Jose to drop it off.

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

#462

Post by Lionsion »

mrfusion wrote: post #110
ghostbrainalpha wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know about that joke anymore. Being an Amazon customer used to be great, but the deliveries are bordering on ridiculously horrible now. I order something on Prime, then it doesn't show up when I expect it to, I get no notification of any delays, and then when I log in to see what's going on they have changed the original expected date so I can't even see what I was originally promised unless I took a screen s…

My biggest peeve is that every time I go to reorder something the price has gone up another 10%. I never hear other people complain about this though. I wonder if it’s not widespread?

> My biggest peeve is that every time I go to reorder something the price has gone up another 10%.

> I never hear other people complain about this though. I wonder if it’s not widespread?

I've gotten increases like this on some items, though not as consistently as "every time."

I no longer consider Amazon to be generally price-competitive with other online retailers and big-box retail. I pretty much only shop at Amazon when I have no idea where to buy the item I'm looking for (such as weird informally-imported things).

Ironically, I'm actually starting to use Amazon as an "online showroom" for general searching, but actually make my purchases elsewhere.

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

#463

Post by jws »

himom wrote: post #457

I’m curious how far away bathrooms can be and how building codes come into play.

They have palette shifting robots running around the warehouse. They should just put a port-a-potty on one and let the workers summon it with a Dash button.

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

#464

Post by vkou »

graeme wrote: post #429
vkou wrote: post #380

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> so something exogenous got people to use it. And to develop the technology to do so. That was James Watt's steam engine, which was efficient at turning combustion into mechanical motion, and it was happenstance that it was invented in 1780, and not 1580, or 1980. People didn't suddenly develop a need to move heavy things in 1780 - it came around then because of advances in steelwork, precision manufacturing, and ge…

Though why were they in development? This article says an early one was developed in 1698, to pump water from a coal mine: http://www.his.com/~pshapiro/steam.engines.html Why was there a coal mine? Why not use wood or charcoal? Why didn't the Romans go down this path? They invented a toy steam engine. These things have many causes. Obviously watson's invention was a big inflection point. But, as for the question "wer…

Because people have been trying to invent ways to mechanically augment human power since someone had the bright idea to make a lever.

Why the steam engine did not succeed because Watt, was because the same reason that tri-deck galleons and gunpowder did not exist in the bronze age. Non-trivial practical inventions require a massive pyramid of other non-trivial practical inventions, each of which requires a pyramid of other non-trivial inventions, all of which have to solve a contemporary problem - cheaply then their alternatives.

If liberal markets were necessary for the invention of the steam engine, why was it invented in England, and not in Renaissance Italy? It had liberal markets, access to capital, and was a center of technological and cultural progress for hundreds of years.

There's no particularly satisfying answer to that, other then 'happenstance.'

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

#465

Post by dawnerd »

jonknee wrote: post #63
dawnerd wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m wondering the same. It’s not like amazon is deeply discounting anything like they used to. Often cheaper to buy stuff at the big box stores - or at least the same price.

But they bring the products to your door...

So do Walmart/Target/bestbuy all with free shipping...

I fail to see the point of that comparison really.

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

#466

Post by bhandziuk »

School-Cotton wrote: post #153
opencl wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Meanwhile they shove all of their software developers into one of the highest cost of living cities in the world and pay them six figure salaries.

Maybe it's changed since I lived there, but I don't really think Seattle is "one of the highest cost of living cities in the world". It is (or was) quite a bit cheaper than NYC or SF, for example.

Seattle might not be the most expensive city to lie in but it is right up there. Same price as LA accoring to this data:

https://www.nerdwallet.com/cost-of-living-calculator/compare...

And depending on how you break this list down (Exclude Bermuda from North American cities,bundle Bellevue/Seattle, Brooklyn NYC) it's in the top 10

https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/region_rankings.jsp?ti...

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

#467

Post by ArchTypical »

School-Cotton wrote: post #153
opencl wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Meanwhile they shove all of their software developers into one of the highest cost of living cities in the world and pay them six figure salaries.

Maybe it's changed since I lived there, but I don't really think Seattle is "one of the highest cost of living cities in the world". It is (or was) quite a bit cheaper than NYC or SF, for example.

Cheaper than Irvine, CA as well.

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

#468

Post by bbddg »

throwa_way_ wrote: post #453
rland wrote: post #424

Is this worth it? Is this worth having the ability to pick between 10,000 different toasters via internet and have them delivered to your doorstep in 2 days? Sometimes I look at society as a complete organ, with a hypothetical ability to make cohesive decisions for itself. And I think, it is making extremely self-destructive choices. All for the sake of satisfying the urge to buy more, at lower prices, with more conv…

Worth it for me, so I continue to buy stuff on Amazon. If the workers don't like it they can work elsewhere or start their own Amazon.

Do you believe there should be minimum standards for working conditions?

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

#469

Post by guiomie »

rland wrote: post #424

Is this worth it? Is this worth having the ability to pick between 10,000 different toasters via internet and have them delivered to your doorstep in 2 days? Sometimes I look at society as a complete organ, with a hypothetical ability to make cohesive decisions for itself. And I think, it is making extremely self-destructive choices. All for the sake of satisfying the urge to buy more, at lower prices, with more conv…

Guilty, I bought a robot vacuum on Amazon and used it once.

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

#470

Post by nordsieck »

rectang wrote: post #441

We can't. Labor and capital need each other, but they are forever at odds. Good wages and working conditions can only be won through negotiating from strength. Modern America favors capital. Elections have consequences.

> Modern America favors capital

The universe favors capital because capital is more mobile than labor.

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