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Workers at Amazon's main Italian hub, German warehouses strike on Black Friday

reuters.com

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Re: Workers at Amazon's main Italian hub, German warehouses strike on Black Friday

#181

Post by dmix »

PakG1 wrote: post #91
djsumdog wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Strikers in US media are often belittled. Think back to the Occupy Movement. The banks were bailed out, none of those people who caused so much misery were ever put in jail, and the media belittled Occupy as being directionless and pointless. The protest was huge, stretching across cities and countries, but there was never any accountability for the banksters. It shows again as the Equifax execs were cleared of insid…

I think the Occupy Movement is a poor comparison because that was a protest, not a strike. And I don't recall protesters in the Occupy Movement being belittled. I agree that labourers may often get unfairly blamed when things go wrong. Corporate overlords can be also very harsh and unfair. But it is difficult to differentiate between unions that have valid claims and unions that are just riding the gravy train with a…

The Occupy movement was hardly universally attacked or belittled by the media. To say so is a strange interpretation of history. Maybe people are remembering the end when the movement fizzled out and critiqued for it's ultimate 'directionless' and lack of specific objectives. But Occupy was very much rah-rah'd by the press and various mainstream media venues in the early days. Or at the minimum not maligned.

The critiques that did come were almost always around the process, the act of camping out and blocking public areas, but the movement itself against Wall St was very popular during the peak of the recession.

And it was a populist movement regardless. With all the highs/lows that type of movement brings.

It's failure to bring meaningful change had little to do with the media, right-wing/tea-party, or older democrats attacking it.

The issues being protested were very complex and deeply deeply ingrained in the current US political crony economic establishment. And the democrat administration at the time did little to affect change despite this popular support, besides some token efforts. And despite the rhetoric of the democratic party being a counterbalance against the rich they largely continued (and sometimes incentivized) the status quo in the finance world. A mere temporary speed block and back to business as usual.

Which had repercussions long after including up to the latest election. It was used by the right to feed off of the mistrust people had with Hillary (and the Obama crew she inherited) with regards to their appeasement of bankers. Particularly with how the republicans hammered home her connections to Goldman Sachs (et al). Not that the right was any better in regards to cronyism, clearly, but the point is that it hit a nerve among Americans which was a legacy of cynicism and bitterness following the recession and Occupy movements.

Re: Workers at Amazon's main Italian hub, German warehouses strike on Black Friday

#182

Post by gsnedders »

vixen99 wrote: post #122
gsnedders wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

OTOH, they have worse health prospects than most software engineers and they mostly have contractual requirements to live within x miles of the depot they're based out of.

Serious consideration is being given to driverless cars so why not similarly upgrade all trains for situations far less demanding than public roads?

The new tube stock is designed for it to be retrofitted, but replacing all of the signalling equipment is expensive (and likely to require some closures, both of segments of the line being upgraded and of the whole line).

The subsurface lines have interworking with normal mainline services, in some places sharing platforms with them, which makes fitting platform-edge doors very difficult if not impossible.

Re: Workers at Amazon's main Italian hub, German warehouses strike on Black Friday

#183

Post by freeone3000 »

simias wrote: post #168
tested23 wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So basically some anti competitive bullshit that is further hampering the already struggling French economy. I am so thankful that I live in the us.

Because American retailers fare so much better these days and it's clearly powering the US economy[0]. Because preventing small retailer from being starved by big chains is what's sinking the french economy. Because clearly I can tell from your comment that you spent a lot of time investigating these regulations and their impact on the french economy. I'm so thankful that you live in the US. [0] https://www.nytimes.c…

Small stores and local retail are dying out due to the cheapness, convenience, and selection of online retail. As a consumer, the online stores are more convenient and save me money. If a local store can't offer anything preferable to some faceless multinational, what is it really doing other than giving some of my money to someone who doesn't add any value?

Re: Workers at Amazon's main Italian hub, German warehouses strike on Black Friday

#184

Post by lucianoq »

Sujan wrote: post #134
bambax wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

France has strikes too.. ;-)

Fair point. I would guess Slovenia is the most probably "solution".

So the idea is to force all countries with welfare to dismiss it. Good to know.

Re: Workers at Amazon's main Italian hub, German warehouses strike on Black Friday

#185

Post by cisanti »

visarga wrote: post #59
forinti wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's become a thing in Brazil recently. Halloween has also become unavoidable. I find this strange, because most people couldn't give you the time of day in english.

In Romania Halloween has also become a thing, to the great annoyance of the Orthodox church.

Also in Spain! But it's the businesses that are shilling both, Halloween and Black Friday, to sell you shit you don't need. But it's strange because it happened very fast overnight when suddenly everyone decided we have to celebrate it.

Many regions and countries in Europe have their own Halloween - like traditions and days that are centuries old, but American style Halloween is pushing them away.

Re: Workers at Amazon's main Italian hub, German warehouses strike on Black Friday

#186

Post by GuB-42 »

tested23 wrote: post #143
icebraining wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Portugal has the same rule (and before you couldn't have them at all except in two periods in the year defined by law). The reasoning is to protect small shops from large retailers, by preventing them from forcing unplanned price wars. Similarly, for many years the very large retailers couldn't open on Sunday afternoons, although that restriction mostly benefited the large chains of medium-sized shops, since it was b…

So basically some anti competitive bullshit that is further hampering the already struggling French economy. I am so thankful that I live in the us.

It is essentially an anti predatory pricing law. You have some of these in the US too.

The general rule is that you are not allowed to sell at a loss. There are, however, exceptions, and "soldes" are one of these exceptions.

It also means that as long as they are not selling at a loss, you are free to discount as much as you want at any time you want. However, there is a second factor : false advertising. If you make discount outside the context of "soldes" you can't call them "soldes".

Re: Workers at Amazon's main Italian hub, German warehouses strike on Black Friday

#187

Post by vertex-four »

jasode wrote: post #148
tw04 wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>This pattern isn't as simple to dismiss as "anti-union FUD", especially since it's seen among people who are already union members in closed shops. You act as though anti-union FUD can't affect members. That's kind of ridiculous... if it didn't affect MEMBERS as well as non-members, what would be the point? If I'm a less-educated union member who has no concept of what life was like before unions, and constantly hea…

>For the average joe who just wants to go to work and get a paycheck, the bigger picture is often lost. Isn't it possible the armchair talking heads like us are the ones missing the bigger picture and the actual workers are the ones who actually get it? Let's consider the Boeing workers in South Carolina: - 2009-09 74% of employees vote against the union and decertify it[1] - 2009-10 Boeing breaks ground on new South…

Of course, unionising doesn't necessarily mean asking for higher wages - that's one of a number of things unions traditionally do. It can also be used to bargain for increased safety, increased job security (making it harder/more expensive to fire people), better-overseen disciplinary procedures, and provides the guarantee that there'll be someone at the table with any employee when the company starts picking on them.

The idea that unions can only be used to bargain for wages is propaganda in its own right.

Re: Workers at Amazon's main Italian hub, German warehouses strike on Black Friday

#188

Post by user15672 »

eru wrote: post #101
chimeracoder wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> £55k isn't that well paid for people who have to live in or near London It's more than the typical software engineer can expect to make in London. Source: Glassdoor, Indeed, talking to colleagues who live in London, and my own memories from my last job search.

You'd be very junior to make less than 55k GBP as a software developer in London. (Like less than three years working experience or so.)

This really isn't true and I really wish this myth would stop. Sure, if you go into the financial sector or find a startup where they don't know their arse from their elbow about software workers, you can dupe them into giving you more money. But 55k in London is a good wage for a software developer and you're definitely not looking at that if you're mid-level and working for a regular company.

Source: I've lived and worked (and continue to do so) as a software developer, technical lead and CTO in London and have been in several different sectors.

Re: Workers at Amazon's main Italian hub, German warehouses strike on Black Friday

#189

Post by [deleted] »

rconti wrote: post #158
TulliusCicero wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Union members are actually disproportionately likely to support things like right-to-work laws, which unions dislike because it (more or less) means workers aren't obligated to be members if they choose not to. Right-to-work laws are like prop 13 in California: sounds good on the surface, but hidden terrible impact. On the surface, "I should be able to choose whether or not I join a union" makes sense, Americans lo…

I absolutely agree free riders are a problem with unions. But that doesn't mean right to work laws shouldn't exist. Maybe it just means unions shouldn't exist. I mean, if your entire business model is flawed, should the world change around your business model? This is more of a devil's advocate position, as I'm not particularly anti-union, but I personally have zero desire to work in a union or be forced to be in one…

[deleted]

Re: Workers at Amazon's main Italian hub, German warehouses strike on Black Friday

#190

Post by eru »

user15672 wrote: post #188
eru wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You'd be very junior to make less than 55k GBP as a software developer in London. (Like less than three years working experience or so.)

This really isn't true and I really wish this myth would stop. Sure, if you go into the financial sector or find a startup where they don't know their arse from their elbow about software workers, you can dupe them into giving you more money. But 55k in London is a good wage for a software developer and you're definitely not looking at that if you're mid-level and working for a regular company. Source: I've lived and…

Oh, 55k GBP is a nice salary by absolute standards, but not for software developers in London.

Yes, you can see people working for so little. But why leave money on the table?

> Sure, if you go into the financial sector or find a startup where they don't know their arse from their elbow about software workers, you can dupe them into giving you more money.

Yes, obviously. Why wouldn't you? If some sectors have more money than sense, that's an opportunity--not a problem.

(I can see that there are reasons to take a lower salary in return for a job you really like; but then you don't get to complain about low pay.)

Source: I've lived and worked in Cambridge (Cambridgeshire), Singapore, Sydney, London in various roles. Mostly in big tech and finance.

And, yes, if you look at Glassdoor you can find the numbers you cited. In my experience Glassdoor seems to be systematically lower than the numbers I get from my own experience and asking friends and coworkers.

(But I might just be living the charmed life that people live who have enough sense to negotiate salaries on job offers?)

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