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Leaked memo reveals Amazon’s plans to combat the Teamsters in California

vox.com

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Re: Leaked memo reveals Amazon’s plans to combat the Teamsters in California

#41

Post by charcircuit »

dave_sullivan wrote: post #5
CSMastermind wrote: post #3

I really dislike sensationalized headlines like this. A more accurate one might say: > Amazon's plan to counter pressure from the Teamsters Union focuses on investing in non-profits. For those who didn't read the article: A leaked Amazon memo shows that the Teamsters Union is effectively putting pressure on Amazon by convincing its members to pressure politicians into not granting Amazon tax breaks, land grants, etc.…

They will spend money on literally anything else except wage increases.

Just a few months ago Amazon raised the maximum base salary from $160k to $350k

Re: Leaked memo reveals Amazon’s plans to combat the Teamsters in California

#42

Post by echelon »

wahern wrote: post #26
dave_sullivan wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They will spend money on literally anything else except wage increases.

Just to play Devil's Advocate: a company can cut donations or most other expenditures anytime it wants. An increase in wages is effectively a permanent commitment, and the only way to reduce wage expenditures is to cut the workforce. This is why companies tend to prefer bonuses, etc, rather than pay bumps, even for individual employees.

Companies also want to retain the ability to fire at will, with simple HR processes, and to reward based on performance instead of seniority.

Re: Leaked memo reveals Amazon’s plans to combat the Teamsters in California

#43

Post by mrxd »

I’m a huge supporters of unions, but Amazon has been very open about their opposition to unions. The fundamental argument for unions is that companies serve shareholders at the expense of workers. Opposing unions is some kind of shocking corporate malfeasance, it’s just the nature of capitalism.

Re: Leaked memo reveals Amazon’s plans to combat the Teamsters in California

#44

Post by baskethead »

Purposefully manipulative headlines like this are why I don't trust most articles from sources like vox.

The headline is used in a way to make it seem like Amazon is targeting students that are vulnerable to them, meanwhile Amazon is targeting those that would benefit the most in society, because they are most vulnerable to economic issues, like ex-inmates and students. Vox is doing its best to manipulate their words to make things look as bad as possible.

I wish there were a feature where I could automatically not see articles from certain content providers because they are so skewed and biased.

Re: Leaked memo reveals Amazon’s plans to combat the Teamsters in California

#45

Post by HarryHirsch »

vorpalhex wrote: post #39
suby wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm sure people would still be griping, but nothing is static. The cost of everything keeps increasing and honestly, depending on where you live even at 20 dollars an hour it will be hard to make ends meet. There will always be a struggle between labor and employer where each will seek to maximize their share, it's the system we have set up. I really don't think people should be faulted for pushing for more when it's…

> The cost of everything keeps increasing and honestly, depending on where you live even at 20 dollars an hour it will be hard to make ends meet. And if you bump everyone to $20, things will get more expensive and then you'll have to bump them to $22, and then everything will get more expensive so you'll...

A wage-price spiral would be preferable to the asset inflation that two decades of zero-interest policy have brought us.

Re: Leaked memo reveals Amazon’s plans to combat the Teamsters in California

#46

Post by 300bps »

vorpalhex wrote: post #39
suby wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm sure people would still be griping, but nothing is static. The cost of everything keeps increasing and honestly, depending on where you live even at 20 dollars an hour it will be hard to make ends meet. There will always be a struggle between labor and employer where each will seek to maximize their share, it's the system we have set up. I really don't think people should be faulted for pushing for more when it's…

> The cost of everything keeps increasing and honestly, depending on where you live even at 20 dollars an hour it will be hard to make ends meet. And if you bump everyone to $20, things will get more expensive and then you'll have to bump them to $22, and then everything will get more expensive so you'll...

I think you’ve just invented the Wage-Price Spiral.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wage-price_spiral

Re: Leaked memo reveals Amazon’s plans to combat the Teamsters in California

#47

Post by baskethead »

dave_sullivan wrote: post #5
CSMastermind wrote: post #3

I really dislike sensationalized headlines like this. A more accurate one might say: > Amazon's plan to counter pressure from the Teamsters Union focuses on investing in non-profits. For those who didn't read the article: A leaked Amazon memo shows that the Teamsters Union is effectively putting pressure on Amazon by convincing its members to pressure politicians into not granting Amazon tax breaks, land grants, etc.…

They will spend money on literally anything else except wage increases.

Most people that work for Amazon in the warehouse like working there. All you're hearing are from the union plants that are coordinating with media that both want to see Amazon fail. Meanwhile the fact that unions are having such a hard time gaining traction show that most of the members feel like they don't need it. The idea that you can intimidate hundreds of thousands of workers across the US is ludicrous.

Re: Leaked memo reveals Amazon’s plans to combat the Teamsters in California

#48

Post by Retric »

missedthecue wrote: post #14
dave_sullivan wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They will spend money on literally anything else except wage increases.

They were the first to $15, literally leading a nationwide wage increase for low skill labor, and now they pay closer to $18 by me. For people trying to hate Amazon at any cost, the goalposts keep shifting. If Amazon announced $20 minimum tomorrow, there is no doubt in my mind that people would still be griping. And even when people concede that Amazon pays industry leading wages, it's "whatabout" the urine bottles a…

Amazon is far from the first company bumping to 15$/hour. Even when they finally joined the 15$ club they where still underpaying people at the time as shown by their retention statistics.

That’s the thing about free markets, workers get to say no. They can trade lower pay for a vastly less crappy job, or get better treatment for similar pay elsewhere etc.

What’s less obvious is Amazon benefited from building out their infrastructure more recently than other companies which let them target sweet spots with large untrained workforces which made their jobs more appealing locally. But eventually they needed to pay market rates.

Re: Leaked memo reveals Amazon’s plans to combat the Teamsters in California

#49

Post by chownie »

vorpalhex wrote: post #39
suby wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm sure people would still be griping, but nothing is static. The cost of everything keeps increasing and honestly, depending on where you live even at 20 dollars an hour it will be hard to make ends meet. There will always be a struggle between labor and employer where each will seek to maximize their share, it's the system we have set up. I really don't think people should be faulted for pushing for more when it's…

> The cost of everything keeps increasing and honestly, depending on where you live even at 20 dollars an hour it will be hard to make ends meet. And if you bump everyone to $20, things will get more expensive and then you'll have to bump them to $22, and then everything will get more expensive so you'll...

Except that's not at all true. Historic raises in the minimum wage did not cause an inflationary response in goods nor currency.

Re: Leaked memo reveals Amazon’s plans to combat the Teamsters in California

#50

Post by Retric »

rr808 wrote: post #19
hwers wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s because $20 is still humiliatingly low for the workload

I'm not sure which planet you are on, but warehouse workers earn way less than $20/hr in most of the US, Europe or anywhere else.

Many warehouses pay well over 20$/hour and others significantly less. What’s rarely mentioned is while Amazon’s compensation is roughly in line with industry norms, the workload is however much worse.
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