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Amazon workers launch protests on Prime Day

bbc.co.uk

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Re: Amazon workers launch protests on Prime Day

#31

Post by astura »

Wohlf wrote: post #16
Animats wrote: post #9

Yes. Don't be a scab and cross the picket line. Don't buy from Amazon today.

Scabs are workers who cross the picket line, not customers. If you think boycotts are a good idea, ask the auto unions how well customers not buying cars worked out for their members.

>Scabs are workers who cross the picket line, not customers.

That's not the way unions themselves use the word.

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/24904995/boston-union-ca...

"Boston union calls Yankees 'scabs' for crossing hotel picket line"

Re: Amazon workers launch protests on Prime Day

#32

Post by tathougies »

ngold wrote: post #10
nerdjon wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean... it's happening. So either we continue to deny it isn't or we actually start those conversations now and figure out how we live in that world. And there is a correlation between actions like this and the desire to have a more automated workforce. Not saying that as blame because there are many other reasons and you can look at the reasons their jobs are so bad right now anyways. But we can't ignore it.

When this was science fiction it was assumed we could all work less, not fewer people working more for less pay.

That would require everyone to own a robot, but most people do not have the foresight to purchase one or involve their money in such a thing.

Re: Amazon workers launch protests on Prime Day

#33

Post by _iyig »

Amezarak wrote: post #13
nerdjon wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean... it's happening. So either we continue to deny it isn't or we actually start those conversations now and figure out how we live in that world. And there is a correlation between actions like this and the desire to have a more automated workforce. Not saying that as blame because there are many other reasons and you can look at the reasons their jobs are so bad right now anyways. But we can't ignore it.

Or we stop it from happening. It isn’t inevitable. We are all of us making a choice to allow it.

You’re right. We could also make the choice to smash cars, because they take jobs away from the horse and buggy industry. We won’t, because the problem is not humanity’s total productive output growing larger, but how this output is managed and distributed.

Re: Amazon workers launch protests on Prime Day

#34

Post by vorpalhex »

enlyth wrote: post #15

I agree with the worker in the video, they should be treated as human beings. One of the issues is doing a simple, monotonous task every 8 seconds, 10 hours a day, 5 days a week, without creating anything of value, is going to be dehumanizing and unfulfilling regardless. Robots carrying out this work would probably be for the best for everyone involved, although Amazon should do right by the workers carrying them ove…

So the fix to this is Amazon laying off all their workers?

Re: Amazon workers launch protests on Prime Day

#35

Post by mc32 »

astura wrote: post #31
Wohlf wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Scabs are workers who cross the picket line, not customers. If you think boycotts are a good idea, ask the auto unions how well customers not buying cars worked out for their members.

>Scabs are workers who cross the picket line, not customers. That's not the way unions themselves use the word. https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/24904995/boston-union-ca... "Boston union calls Yankees 'scabs' for crossing hotel picket line"

Only because it's a way to use and coöpt language for your cause, not because it's the way the public understands it. It's like AOC insunuating Pelosi racist. It's used for effect.

Or, imagine a nurses' strike, but I as a patient don't honor their strike, am I a scab?

Re: Amazon workers launch protests on Prime Day

#36

Post by throwaway2048 »

tathougies wrote: post #32
ngold wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When this was science fiction it was assumed we could all work less, not fewer people working more for less pay.

That would require everyone to own a robot, but most people do not have the foresight to purchase one or involve their money in such a thing.

Or you know, millions of dollars.

Re: Amazon workers launch protests on Prime Day

#37

Post by pardavis »

dhruvrrp wrote: post #17

> He says he has to pick an item about every eight seconds, or 332 per hour, for a 10 hour day. Ignoring the math, it’s hard to imagine that pace. Are they forced to continually be moving? Or is the person counting picking up, say 15 usb chargers as 15 separate things?

Pick workers at robotized FCs stand in one place at the nexus point of conveyors and robots. Robots bring them shelving units of products. Conveyor belts bring them empty containers. The human selects products from the robot and puts it in the container.

Re: Amazon workers launch protests on Prime Day

#38

Post by Eric_WVGG »

dhruvrrp wrote: post #17

> He says he has to pick an item about every eight seconds, or 332 per hour, for a 10 hour day. Ignoring the math, it’s hard to imagine that pace. Are they forced to continually be moving? Or is the person counting picking up, say 15 usb chargers as 15 separate things?

Yes. I read an article last week about a guy who got fired for "unnecessary motion." (will update this comment with a link if I can dig it up.)

Here's a story about a patent on a wristband that enables this kind of tracking: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/jan/31/amazon-wa...

It is humanly possible. As a teenager, I worked at UPS, where I was expected to stack boxes real-life-Tetris-style into a van at a rate of 45 per minute. They could get as heavy as 30 lbs. I actually got to enjoy it after a while (biceps!), but I could never get the hang of memorizing the zip codes (every truck has a list of 1-30 that we were expected to memorize instantly).

Re: Amazon workers launch protests on Prime Day

#39

Post by jefflombardjr »

_bxg1 wrote: post #24
idlewords wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Everyone on this site uses AWS.

It's not simply about hurting Amazon, it's about sending a signal. "This specific part of our business is threatened by the way that we're running it." Let it make business sense for Amazon to treat people like human beings. Otherwise it won't.

And then what? Amazon will continue to do the bare minimum to appease these signals periodically.

It is not the duty of consumers to provide a social safety net for workers. This is precisely where government should step in. If you really give a shit about the people working at Amazon, write to your congressman/congresswoman and voice your support for social programs that would positively impact them.

Re: Amazon workers launch protests on Prime Day

#40

Post by Someone1234 »

vorpalhex wrote: post #34
enlyth wrote: post #15

I agree with the worker in the video, they should be treated as human beings. One of the issues is doing a simple, monotonous task every 8 seconds, 10 hours a day, 5 days a week, without creating anything of value, is going to be dehumanizing and unfulfilling regardless. Robots carrying out this work would probably be for the best for everyone involved, although Amazon should do right by the workers carrying them ove…

So the fix to this is Amazon laying off all their workers?

As automation keeps on improving and productivity gets more centralized will there be a shortage of jobs?

The above poster makes a fair point that this is work well suited to automation. In the broader sense with retail closing and Amazon taking market share, centralizing productivity (i.e. reducing retail jobs to fewer picker jobs), and then automating those fewer jobs away entirely, are we going to have a hole in society where those jobs once existed?

I genuinely have no idea how society would work if you simply eliminated 20% of jobs tomorrow. Mass poverty? Artificially created jobs? A larger rich/poor divide?

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