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Amazon training video on handling unionizing activity (2018) [video]

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Re: Amazon training video on handling unionizing activity (2018) [video]

#41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Paying you more than the absolute minimum is not in the interests of our Customers, Shareholders, Associates, Shareholders and our Shareholders.

Amazon actually pays significantly above the minimum wage, this frequently leads to complaints by businesses located near their plants that they have to hike their pay in response to still get workers. NYT did a nice article on this two years ago: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/05/business/economy/amazon-w...

Competition for employees? In my capitalism?

Re: Amazon training video on handling unionizing activity (2018) [video]

#42
post #19
post #6

> were not anti-union, but we're not neutral So pro-union?

Easily the most disingenuous double-speak in the video. They aren't anti-union in principle, just against any union at Amazon?

It's legalese; they CANNOT be anti-union because the law says so, but they can doublespeak their way around it.

This video's script has been thoroughly vetted by a team of legal experts to make sure it conveys an anti-union stance, without saying it out loud and making them liable for union busting.

Re: Amazon training video on handling unionizing activity (2018) [video]

#43
post #8

So I did my first part in trying to support everyone who dislikes this as much as I do. I cancelled my Prime and I will try to not purchase anything from Amazon for a year. It's not much, but it's something. I invite everyone to do the same.

Goodonya. Here's what I did. It's not for everyone. It was painful, awkward and led to a lot of bother... but ultimately I feel proud of myself and how the other responded.

I rejected a gift that came in an Amazon box.

Very politely, and apologetically., I said, "I'm really sorry, but I can't accept this." And why, (working conditions, monopoly etc).

It had an effect not only on myself - to make an ideological whimsy into a real and binding action - putting my skin in the game - but also on the other person who was initially embarrassed, then emboldened. It led to a memorable and positive conversation.

Re: Amazon training video on handling unionizing activity (2018) [video]

#44
post #25

I have so many ambivalent feelings about the whole IT / Silicon Valley sector. Although many people are interested and even passionate about technology, I feel we can’t look away from the bigger picture in which it operates. I support a startup - that wants to ethical - on AWS, owned by a union buster that exploits people and - like many other companies - gets rich through wage theft. Airbnb has been a negative influ…

> Airbnb has been a negative influence on the housing market airbnb exposed the fact the societies are full of nimbys and politicians are useless. all while providing a good alternative to hotels. > Uber, well, do I even need to discuss that one? uber is amazing. it completely undercut the monopolies of the taxi companies. it provides an amazing service at a reasonable price. > our centuries old nemesis: Capitalism.…

You really should read the book I mentioned since you seem to have zero knowledge about the larger context.

Re: Amazon training video on handling unionizing activity (2018) [video]

#45
post #25

I have so many ambivalent feelings about the whole IT / Silicon Valley sector. Although many people are interested and even passionate about technology, I feel we can’t look away from the bigger picture in which it operates. I support a startup - that wants to ethical - on AWS, owned by a union buster that exploits people and - like many other companies - gets rich through wage theft. Airbnb has been a negative influ…

> Airbnb has been a negative influence on the housing market airbnb exposed the fact the societies are full of nimbys and politicians are useless. all while providing a good alternative to hotels. > Uber, well, do I even need to discuss that one? uber is amazing. it completely undercut the monopolies of the taxi companies. it provides an amazing service at a reasonable price. > our centuries old nemesis: Capitalism.…

Airbnb is an excellent source of bed bugs, lice and fleas.

If you want to be closer to those fantastic creatures, use Airbnb.

Re: Amazon training video on handling unionizing activity (2018) [video]

#46
post #35

Why do they call employees, "associates"?

Before employees, partners, and associates it was workers. All part of the same old euphemism treadmill. "Städare" (cleaner) becoming "lokalvårdare" (environment caretaker) is a personal favourite from my childhood in Sweden. Same darn job and pay; that fancy new name cost your employer nothing other than a new badge of course.

> "Städare" (cleaner) becoming "lokalvårdare"

We often call it "facility management" / "facility manager" in the German world.

Re: Amazon training video on handling unionizing activity (2018) [video]

#47

What a beautiful example of propaganda, in the truest sense of the term. The guitar intro is folksy, the guy is warm and lovely, and _excited_ to have us at this training.... it's about your "success". Success of course, is not getting fired for being a collaborator with counter-revolutionary "associates" who reject Generalissimo Uberführer Bezos inspired vision and "history making" five year masterplan for "direct w…

[flagged]

It's not really a long discussion, we're jumping straight to the Nazi comparison.

Re: Amazon training video on handling unionizing activity (2018) [video]

#48
post #13
post #8

So I did my first part in trying to support everyone who dislikes this as much as I do. I cancelled my Prime and I will try to not purchase anything from Amazon for a year. It's not much, but it's something. I invite everyone to do the same.

For those that want to follow, what are good online shopping alternatives? I find that most people I talk to are drawn to Amazon simply because Amazon has managed to set an expectation of fast deliver, often as little as same-day delivery in areas that have a warehouse nearby (like the one I live in). I make every effort to shop local, or find alternative places to order online, but one cannot argue the convenience A…

> For those that want to follow, what are good online shopping alternatives?

In Blighty, Argos.

No counterfeit stuff (which frankly, should be a given), same day delivery and a good network of bricks'n'mortar shops (with pick-up and drop-off) if you need it.

http://www.argos.co.uk/

Re: Amazon training video on handling unionizing activity (2018) [video]

#49

This is beyond disgusting, and definitely not acceptable. So much for being "the world's best employer". I want to dig a hole and bury myself from the embarrassment of being associated with this company.

Who claimed that they were "the world's best employer" though? Always look at who proclaims that; it's never the employees themselves. Or if it is, it's a subselection of those that actually had something positive to say about it (e.g. higher management, IT, etc, not the warehouse staff).

It's not about the claim, but about the supposed promise [1]. You can't claim that you aim to be world's best employer and at the same time be union-busting.

Granted Jeff and Andy are ... different.

[1] https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jeff-bezos-amazon-employee-care...

Re: Amazon training video on handling unionizing activity (2018) [video]

#50

I wonder where they find the guys selling their voice like that. Not that there is a high bar in advertising, but this is on another level.

It's a regular job. I follow a youtuber who was, before his youtube career, a voice actor among other things, and it's a job like any other. Large companies have large advertising budgets, and they usually pay better than, say, film and animation. Voice actors are often signed to agencies, they have profiles and portfolio. Voice is a product and a service, and agencies can be requested to provide samples for a request like a warm, friendly voice for a 15-minute training video. They have contracts that specify where and how the voice will be used, and if the payment is fixed, dynamic based on a business metric or success of the use, or a mix of these, and how much of that does the agency get.

What's interesting is that voices can also be exclusively licensed. You for example Mercedes can request a characteristic voice, and they pay extra so that the actor signs that they will not take another transportation related job, or even any other job for a period. This is how McDonalds has a specific, associated voiceover for every commercial over a period, for example. It becomes part of branding, like a color, a font, or a logo design.

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