Amazon abruptly fires senior managers tied to unionized warehouse • Hacker News Board

Re: Amazon abruptly fires senior managers tied to unionized warehouse

#11

Post by ChrisMarshallNY » Sat, May 07, 2022, 5:52 PM UTC

> Several were veterans of the company, with more than six years of experience

I think it's sad that we have an industry, where someone with six years' experience, is considered a "veteran."

But it sounds like Amazon is sending a message to managers of other warehouses, to go as low as possible, to fight unionization.

Expect things to get ugly.

Re: Amazon abruptly fires senior managers tied to unionized warehouse

#12

Post by noncoml » Sat, May 07, 2022, 5:53 PM UTC

humanistbot wrote: post #9

Dreako wrote: post #4

As they should!

So you think corporations should break the law? Workers have the right to organize a union, firing workers in retaliation for organizing has long been illegal: https://www.nlrb.gov/about-nlrb/rights-we-protect/the-law/em...

Not the OP and not supporting his opinion, but these where not workers they fired, they were senior managers, and I believe it's not illegal.

I guess the OP means that they should be fired for failing to do their job, ie. "convince" the workers to not unionize.

Re: Amazon abruptly fires senior managers tied to unionized warehouse

#13

Post by Aperocky » Sat, May 07, 2022, 5:58 PM UTC

humanistbot wrote: post #9

Dreako wrote: post #4

As they should!

So you think corporations should break the law? Workers have the right to organize a union, firing workers in retaliation for organizing has long been illegal: https://www.nlrb.gov/about-nlrb/rights-we-protect/the-law/em...

I don't think senior managers of the warehouse are the ones organizing..

Re: Amazon abruptly fires senior managers tied to unionized warehouse

#14

Post by whycombagator » Sat, May 07, 2022, 5:59 PM UTC

ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #11

> Several were veterans of the company, with more than six years of experience I think it's sad that we have an industry, where someone with six years' experience, is considered a "veteran." But it sounds like Amazon is sending a message to managers of other warehouses, to go as low as possible, to fight unionization. Expect things to get ugly.

Well the line you quoted says company not industry. Ecommerce is a relatively young industry anyway. And Amazon has been around since what, 94? So 6 years is over 20% of the time Amazon has existed.

Re: Amazon abruptly fires senior managers tied to unionized warehouse

#15

Post by tyingq » Sat, May 07, 2022, 6:03 PM UTC

My guess is that they didn't fire them for "letting it happen" exactly. They probably fired them because the employees would view those managers as someone they recently defeated over a major issue. Which changes the power dynamic in a way that's distinct from the presence of the union itself. It's a weak attempt to get some of that back.

Re: Amazon abruptly fires senior managers tied to unionized warehouse

#16

Post by [deleted] » Sat, May 07, 2022, 6:03 PM UTC

ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #11

> Several were veterans of the company, with more than six years of experience I think it's sad that we have an industry, where someone with six years' experience, is considered a "veteran." But it sounds like Amazon is sending a message to managers of other warehouses, to go as low as possible, to fight unionization. Expect things to get ugly.

[deleted]

Re: Amazon abruptly fires senior managers tied to unionized warehouse

#17

Post by idiotsecant » Sat, May 07, 2022, 6:04 PM UTC

faangiq wrote: post #2

They’re reaching a market cap where it would make sense to fire everyone but AWS.

For real. Amazon's retail side is nothing but bad pr and other messy human entanglements. AWS is clean, profitable, and nearly ubiquitous. I definitely know which business I would rather be in

Re: Amazon abruptly fires senior managers tied to unionized warehouse

#18

Post by idiotsecant » Sat, May 07, 2022, 6:06 PM UTC

Dreako wrote: post #4

As they should!

It boggles the mind how many people are opposed to collective bargaining, of all things. Give the least powerful in society a fraction of an ounce of power and it makes some people completely irrational.

Re: Amazon abruptly fires senior managers tied to unionized warehouse

#19

Post by hiddencost » Sat, May 07, 2022, 6:08 PM UTC

Mountain_Skies wrote: post #3

faangiq wrote: post #2

They’re reaching a market cap where it would make sense to fire everyone but AWS.

It's confusing why investors haven't pushed harder for AWS to be spun-off into its own entity.

The largest customer of AWS is Amazon. AWS would not be profitable without Amazon.

Re: Amazon abruptly fires senior managers tied to unionized warehouse

#20

Post by dylan604 » Sat, May 07, 2022, 6:08 PM UTC

650REDHAIR wrote: post #10

Dreako wrote: post #4

As they should!

Care to explain your reasoning?

In Amazon's view, they woefully performed in their functions. They failed in a very high profile task. Their (in)actions are going to cost the company lots of money. Leaving aside the exact task, these sound like typical reasons for dismissal.