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Amazon's anti-union site for its Alabama warehouse

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Re: Amazon's anti-union site for its Alabama warehouse

#61
post #18

Why is blatant union suppression like this even allowed?

Same reason why Amazon can cut service to Parler. The First Amendment guarantees the right for private companies to govern their own properties, literature, and procedures.

If you do not like it you may criticize them publicly, boycott their business, or start your own competing employer with the policies you prefer.

Re: Amazon's anti-union site for its Alabama warehouse

#62
post #15

This is another reminder that we have some of the negative aspects of a cyberpunk future without the cool empowering hacking parts. I wonder about the sort of person who would design such a website. Surely you'd have to be dead inside to create such an abomination, even if it's just a job? I am not trying to be hyperbolic here.

> I wonder about the sort of person who would design such a website. Surely you'd have to be dead inside to create such an abomination, even if it's just a job? I suggest you hang around Blind for a bit and you'll realize that some of our techie colleagues hold some.. interesting opinions about labor or about how much to pay workers we now consider 'essential'

I would urge you not to join Blind if you consider yourself reasonably comfortable with your perception of your coworkers. It will change.

Re: Amazon's anti-union site for its Alabama warehouse

#63

Wow. Just...wow. Maybe the line with the worst rhetorical trick is this bullshit in the "joining a union" FAQ: "Q: Will a union provide better wages and benefits? A: A union cannot guarantee better wages and benefits. With union negotiations, you could end up with more, the same.... or less than what you make today." I love that because it works exactly as well when you just negate the question: "Q: Will NOT having a…

Q: Will NOT having a union provide better wages and benefits? A: Yes, it could. Unions introduce parasitic loss and collective bargaining. Collective bargaining allows a large part of the workforce to negotiate as one unit and consequently higher performing workers are unable to negotiate a salary commensurate with their performance. In order to retain higher performing workers, corporations end up paying average per…

> higher performing workers

Do you mean the ones that sit at their keyboards earning a multiple of the salaries of those who do the actual physical work necessary to serve customers.

I often remind my colleagues that we are very lucky to have such easy and well paid jobs by asking the simple question, “how many bags of sand did you carry yesterday?”

Re: Amazon's anti-union site for its Alabama warehouse

#64
post #11

I like how the main objection would be instantly nullified if Amazon paid their workers more. Do you think a union would be able to negotiate for more than $500 of extra compensation?

I honestly am skeptical. AMZN already pays more than other small businesses and even medium/large businesses. It doesn't make money by paying its workers less - it makes money with efficiency and volume. Alabama is a right-to-work state. My understanding is that it would be completely legal for Amazon to hire new employees the second someone doesn't show up because of a strike, so I'm not sure their leverage. These w…

No, a union contract supersedes a "right to work", because it's a contract. Yes, an employer can fire you for little/no reason (if it's not discriminatory) but if they sign a contract saying they won't fire you, then their hands are tied.

In the example of something like missing a day of work, the contract will spell out the specifics of advance notice for days off/sick days. If it's completely unannounced, the contract will spell out the steps of a disciplinary process.

Source: I work in a right to work state, used to be a union member, asked this very same question at the time.

Re: Amazon's anti-union site for its Alabama warehouse

#65
post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If that's true...then why do you think Amazon is so afraid of/against them joining a union if it can't do anything?

A) If the union has a good chance of increasing wages 400 to 600 per year locally, then that is a great deal for the union organizers, a passable deal for the workers, and a bad deal for Amazon. I didn't say they won't be able to raise wages at all - just maybe not enough to justify the $500 union fees. B) Not every state is a right-to-work state. So, from a 'worker's of the world unite' perspective then obviously ma…

wages ∈ compensation

Re: Amazon's anti-union site for its Alabama warehouse

#66

Wow. Just...wow. Maybe the line with the worst rhetorical trick is this bullshit in the "joining a union" FAQ: "Q: Will a union provide better wages and benefits? A: A union cannot guarantee better wages and benefits. With union negotiations, you could end up with more, the same.... or less than what you make today." I love that because it works exactly as well when you just negate the question: "Q: Will NOT having a…

Q: Will NOT having a union provide better wages and benefits? A: Yes, it could. Unions introduce parasitic loss and collective bargaining. Collective bargaining allows a large part of the workforce to negotiate as one unit and consequently higher performing workers are unable to negotiate a salary commensurate with their performance. In order to retain higher performing workers, corporations end up paying average per…

...except for Amazon warehouses where to my knowledge almost everyone with the same role gets basically the same pay (without any unions). Minimum wage (or even amazons $15 minimum wage) jobs are very difficult to negotiate from a performance perspective given the nature of the job.

Re: Amazon's anti-union site for its Alabama warehouse

#67

Wow. Just...wow. Maybe the line with the worst rhetorical trick is this bullshit in the "joining a union" FAQ: "Q: Will a union provide better wages and benefits? A: A union cannot guarantee better wages and benefits. With union negotiations, you could end up with more, the same.... or less than what you make today." I love that because it works exactly as well when you just negate the question: "Q: Will NOT having a…

Q: Will NOT having a union provide better wages and benefits? A: Yes, it could. Unions introduce parasitic loss and collective bargaining. Collective bargaining allows a large part of the workforce to negotiate as one unit and consequently higher performing workers are unable to negotiate a salary commensurate with their performance. In order to retain higher performing workers, corporations end up paying average per…

False assumption: "Higher performing workers" are good at bargaining.

Re: Amazon's anti-union site for its Alabama warehouse

#68
post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was confused at that as well. Ultimately I decided it was a veiled threat that management would be angry and make their lives harder.

That, or they're pitting union and non-union members against each other.

Usually it's all or nothing: a place unionizes, everyone is a member of the union. Technically, you could say "no I'm not going to be a member". But you're still part of what is called the bargaining unit. In some cases it is even possible to opt out of the union dues... there was a Supreme Court case about it recently that came down on the side of allowing opt-out, but I don't know the full extent/ramifications of that ruling.

Re: Amazon's anti-union site for its Alabama warehouse

#69
post #15

This is another reminder that we have some of the negative aspects of a cyberpunk future without the cool empowering hacking parts. I wonder about the sort of person who would design such a website. Surely you'd have to be dead inside to create such an abomination, even if it's just a job? I am not trying to be hyperbolic here.

> Surely you'd have to be dead inside to create such an abomination, even if it's just a job? I am not trying to be hyperbolic here. Many of us don’t like unions. We consider them to be parasitic organizations that pervert the employer-employee-customer relationship without adding value. In fact, by twisting a business so that it is run for the benefit of the employees instead of for the mutual benefit of employees,…

> you’re so unfamiliar with the actual case against unions

How can the average American worker be so unfamiliar with the case against unions? We are inundated with anti-union propaganda practically from birth. Barely any of us are unionized, corporations have gone to the ends of the earth to disempower or dismantle unions for the past 40-50 years, and you hardly ever hear any pro-union narrative outside of union organizers and the left.

I have heard the arguments against unions so many times I can recite them by heart. I've had posters up in my workplace, I've had to watch anti-union videos before even applying for jobs and I've had comments like yours pushed all over anything that even mentions unions.

The idea that someone is pro-union because they've never heard the arguments against unions beggars belief.

Re: Amazon's anti-union site for its Alabama warehouse

#70
post #15

This is another reminder that we have some of the negative aspects of a cyberpunk future without the cool empowering hacking parts. I wonder about the sort of person who would design such a website. Surely you'd have to be dead inside to create such an abomination, even if it's just a job? I am not trying to be hyperbolic here.

without the cool empowering hacking parts

You say that now, but what about when Amazon starts encouraging employees to replace their arms with pneumatic forklift tines?

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