Nothing shows the power of unions more than the lengths companies go to fight them.
In a Union there is Strength.
Amazon doesn't 'employ' drivers, but hired firms to prevent them from unionizing
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Re: Amazon doesn't 'employ' drivers, but hired firms to prevent them from unionizing
#12I'm always amazed at the stark differences between UPS drivers, and Amazon drivers.
UPS trucks are always clean. They follow the rules of the road. The drivers wear neat uniforms, they walk on the sidewalks, they're polite, they're just professionals held to a higher standard.
Then there are Amazon drivers. They park blocking half the road, music blasting, the vans usually look like they haven't been washed in a month, most of the time it's not even an Amazon marked van, it's just some generic white rental. The drivers often don't have Amazon clothing, maybe just a hi-viz vest, they walk through your grass and plants, lazily toss a package on the porch and walk away.
Reminds me of fast food employee who simply hands your meal out the window, no greeting, no thank you, no smile...
Re: Amazon doesn't 'employ' drivers, but hired firms to prevent them from unionizing
#13This behavior of legal loopholes to discount workers should be made illegal. The definition of sub-contractor has got to change and/or have laws/policies in place that actually make sense in a sub contractor relationship. These are shell companies that spin up and exclusively deliver for amazon, they aren't gig workers delivering when they want, they have strict quotas.
"Shell company" isn't a legal term and has varying definitions, but generally is a company that only exists on paper and doesn't do anything. These companies deliver products for Amazon. Make sense to whom? People that have no experience with running a business and hiring subcontractors?
If you have a single product that kills people, you aren't legally allowed to put all your liabilities and none of your assets into another (non-shell, by your definition) company to get out of your liabilities. [0] What's happening here is quite similar.
[0] See, for example, the J&J case, which was an even more generous form of the same.
Re: Amazon doesn't 'employ' drivers, but hired firms to prevent them from unionizing
#14Earlier quoted context omitted.
The solution is to enforce the laws we have, not feign powerlessness every time some crackerjack claims to have identified a profitable loophole.
Absolutely. The courts are supposed to be the last vestige of common sense. It’s judges dropping the ball here by letting high power lawyers steamroll their courtrooms with this nonsense.
> It’s judges dropping the ball here
It's also a work culture. (What can you generally expect from an employer?)
I've never worked in the US.
But it sounds like workers are not protected.
The American Dream is a story of entrepreneurship, not of employment.
Re: Amazon doesn't 'employ' drivers, but hired firms to prevent them from unionizing
#15I'm always amazed at the stark differences between UPS drivers, and Amazon drivers. UPS trucks are always clean. They follow the rules of the road. The drivers wear neat uniforms, they walk on the sidewalks, they're polite, they're just professionals held to a higher standard. Then there are Amazon drivers. They park blocking half the road, music blasting, the vans usually look like they haven't been washed in a mont…
You get what you pay for. UPS drivers are unionized, and Amazon's aren't.
Re: Amazon doesn't 'employ' drivers, but hired firms to prevent them from unionizing
#16Always amazing when it takes “disruptive” Silicon Valley businesses so much legal wrangling just to turn (barely) a profit (not including AWS).
Re: Amazon doesn't 'employ' drivers, but hired firms to prevent them from unionizing
#17That's true for all such jobs be janitor, cleaner or cook in almost all the companies including the government.
Re: Amazon doesn't 'employ' drivers, but hired firms to prevent them from unionizing
#18Nothing shows the power of unions more than the lengths companies go to fight them. In a Union there is Strength.
What strength do they have? Unions routinely cause jobs to be eliminated and offshored.
Re: Amazon doesn't 'employ' drivers, but hired firms to prevent them from unionizing
#19I'm always amazed at the stark differences between UPS drivers, and Amazon drivers. UPS trucks are always clean. They follow the rules of the road. The drivers wear neat uniforms, they walk on the sidewalks, they're polite, they're just professionals held to a higher standard. Then there are Amazon drivers. They park blocking half the road, music blasting, the vans usually look like they haven't been washed in a mont…
You get what you pay for. UPS drivers are unionized, and Amazon's aren't.
FedEx delivery drivers aren't unionized.
Re: Amazon doesn't 'employ' drivers, but hired firms to prevent them from unionizing
#20I'm always amazed at the stark differences between UPS drivers, and Amazon drivers. UPS trucks are always clean. They follow the rules of the road. The drivers wear neat uniforms, they walk on the sidewalks, they're polite, they're just professionals held to a higher standard. Then there are Amazon drivers. They park blocking half the road, music blasting, the vans usually look like they haven't been washed in a mont…
You get what you pay for. UPS drivers are unionized, and Amazon's aren't.
Why would I want to pay for somebody else’s clean trucks and neat uniforms? Sounds like a scam to me.