231–240 of 261 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
That only works as long as no one reports them to the respective goverment departments.
It works great if the departments don't have a lot of power to stop it. Even if Amazon gets hit with a fine for anti-union behavior, it would be a pittance to their budget, and almost certainly come too late.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
That only works as long as no one reports them to the respective goverment departments.
And if you've grown so big that there will be one or two reports every month, make sure you lobby the right people in the government departments.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
without the power afforded by money to the union, it cannot stand up to the company. the dues are functionally an insurance payment for security in your job. this comment is similar to saying: i'm kinda creeped out by car insurance payments. it just feels less about protecting other drivers and more about enriching the insurance companies. you are right that it does create a new power structure and job roles, that's…
> i'm kinda creeped out by car insurance payments. it just feels less about protecting other drivers and more about enriching the insurance companies. Yeah, me too! And health and homeowners insurance while we're at it. All systems seemingly meant to exploit statistics for the betterment of us all...and yet the 20 most expensive homes in my city growing up were owned by insurance execs... What an oddity!
For reference, Amazon's anti-union site: https://www.doitwithoutdues.com/
I have to say, I'm kind of creeped out by union dues. It just feels less about workers helping themselves and more like some workers creating a new power structure and job roles that they can enjoy.
Legal support - your boss has done something you disagree with
Strike fund - in the worse case the union uses its savings to support the members for a strike
Full time reps - this is perhaps the one most open to abuse, but in my experience union reps fight for the workers - otherwise they get sacked, they are elected positions.
Pay for legal advice - essential when fighting the big boys
And what you would hope is by paying union dues that your pay rise more than covers the union due.
The fact that amazon is fighting against it so hard, you can only assume its good for workers pay.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Are public schools so bad that people come out with no marketable unique skills that would give them natural job security? Yes, but that's not the only issue. Some people are incapable of managing their own affairs. Showing up to work on time, not drunk is not in their personal capacity. It's not really their fault; we are not the authors of our neurobiology.
There are plenty of alcoholics who can show up to work and wait until afterwards to get drunk. There is a certain level of choice to being so egregious about it that you reek of whisky at a meeting, even if that choice is just saying "f it."
Earlier quoted context omitted.
If $5/hr is an exploitative rate, then it's exploitation regardless of whether the the area is worse off or not
If the rate $5/hr is inherently exploitative, then how can a person not capable of producing more than $5/hr of value ever be employed?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Unions have done their job. They were needed when Pinkertons beat up people trying to open new stores in a company town, etc. Ironically, flagging a post without bad content is just the sort of passive aggressive crap you have to put up with in a union.
> They were needed when Pinkertons beat up people trying to open new stores in a company town, etc. BTW, Amazon is still using Pinkertons to repress unionization attempts[0]. Things haven't changed that much after all. - [0]: https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-pinkerton-agency-spie...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
If $5/hr is an exploitative rate, then it's exploitation regardless of whether the the area is worse off or not
This thinking leads to more poverty and less social mobility. Factory workers in China get paid less than $5/hour, yet this so-called "exploitation" directly led to a large reduction in poverty[1]. If everyone had accepted your framing and refused to do manufacturing business with China on that basis, the consequence of that would be more poverty and human suffering. If a person is being paid $4/hour and you come in…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> They were needed when Pinkertons beat up people trying to open new stores in a company town, etc. BTW, Amazon is still using Pinkertons to repress unionization attempts[0]. Things haven't changed that much after all. - [0]: https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-pinkerton-agency-spie...
So? They used to break your legs. Now they just write stuff in a little booklet. Things have changed a lot.
Things have just gotten more politically correct, because now every employee could record your Pinkertons beating up people and share it with the whole world.
Don't think things have changed for any other reason that we forced them to do that.
I hate Amazon and stories like this make me hate it even more. I stopped ordering anything from them and, if anything, this has actually improved my consumer experience. Most stuff you can buy on Amazon these days is the same garbage that is sold on Wish but you pay ~25-50% more for it to come within a couple of days. Not shopping at either has definitely raised the average life span and quality of goods in my househ…
I honestly can't understand how anybody sleeps at night writing software for Amazon, at this point. Maybe it's easier to justify to yourself if you work at AWS and not directly on the retail side of things, who knows. I'm not going to try and cast judgement on individuals' circumstances, I just experience genuine confusion that Amazon can (apparently) still attract top-ish talent.
The "similar" item is not similar enough in my experience.