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Amazon workers to strike at multiple US warehouses during busy holiday season

reuters.com

251–260 of 560 posts

Re: Amazon workers to strike at multiple US warehouses during busy holiday season

#251
post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> most of the profit goes to Bezos. Incorrect. Bezos only owns 8.8% of Amazon. Most of the profit is distributed to a wide variety of shareholders in the form of rising share prices, reflected in things like retirement accounts. In other words, a lot of that profit goes to grandmas across the country with their money in a Vanguard retirement fund. Including grandmas in your local community. And you really think the l…

> And you really think the local shopowner kept all the profit in their community? E.g. they didn't send their kids to college in another state? Imagine spending money and having that money allow people in your local community to afford college. Then imagine thinking that’s a bad thing. Obviously it’s complicated, but the gist is longer money stays in a local area, the better off that area is going to be. It’s better…

> Then imagine thinking that’s a bad thing.

You seem to have missed my point entirely. I'm not saying that's a bad thing -- but I'm saying that by your logic, you seem to think it is.

You're looking at money like it's some kind of zero-sum thing that ought to be hoarded by every local community. You say:

> but the gist is longer money stays in a local area, the better off that area is going to be

That is contrary to all standard economic theories of free trade. The entire engine of economic growth is that when communities trade between each other, everyone's standard of living goes up.

The economy theory you seem to be promoting is what is known as mercantilism [1], which has been thoroughly discredited.

Circulating money broadly is a good thing. You don't need to worry about it leaving your local area, because it comes back according to whatever goods and services you produce! You don't need to hoard it locally.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercantilism

Re: Amazon workers to strike at multiple US warehouses during busy holiday season

#252

I’m not sure why the general sentiment here is that Amazon workers do not deserve a living wage and should be replaced with robots. All the best to the union, I sincerely hope they meet your demands.

Amazon warehouse work pays almost $20/hour where I live, which is well above the federal minimum wage and more than almost every other company in the area for this type of work. This is a living wage. "should be replaced with robots" I also think it's funny we are having this discussion. When songwriters and other creators were complaining about piracy in the 2000s, the general response from the tech community was th…

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Re: Amazon workers to strike at multiple US warehouses during busy holiday season

#253
post #210

I don’t understand why all these comments are about who buys or doesn’t buy at Amazon. The article is about unionization and strikes. I expect a conversation about the merits of unions and their negotiation tactics. In my opinion, events like these will just accelerate job elimination. The goal of a logistics company is to be reliable. Humans are unreliable and more so when they are purposely and collectively unrelia…

> I’ve lived in a country with very powerful unions and it sucks— miss every 5th flight because the union decides to strike. I'm willing to accept inconvenience if it means strong workers' rights.

Keep saying that when a vacation get ruined because your connections got messed up and your out thousands of dollars.

Re: Amazon workers to strike at multiple US warehouses during busy holiday season

#254
post #248

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Minimum wage != Livable wage I don't think it's worth considering the comparison. But sure, maybe working at a distribution center pays well enough where you're located. Likely that's not the case where these strikes are happening. It's expensive out there. Also, what you wrote gives the impression of "I've got mine already so I don't care what happens to you."

Define what a livable wage is then. Is it $25/hr? $50/hr? $100/hr?

To start with, any definition that ends with a constant number is wrong. The living wage in an area depends on the cost of living in that area. I don't have that number on hand, but I expect it to be included in any discussion of what people should get payed.

After that, we need to ask how much profit a person should be allowed to make on their labor.

Re: Amazon workers to strike at multiple US warehouses during busy holiday season

#255
post #248

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Minimum wage != Livable wage I don't think it's worth considering the comparison. But sure, maybe working at a distribution center pays well enough where you're located. Likely that's not the case where these strikes are happening. It's expensive out there. Also, what you wrote gives the impression of "I've got mine already so I don't care what happens to you."

Define what a livable wage is then. Is it $25/hr? $50/hr? $100/hr?

$20/hr fulltime is ~40k/yr or ~$3300/mo. As just one benchmark: can you find housing in your area for $1100/mo?

Re: Amazon workers to strike at multiple US warehouses during busy holiday season

#256
post #248

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Minimum wage != Livable wage I don't think it's worth considering the comparison. But sure, maybe working at a distribution center pays well enough where you're located. Likely that's not the case where these strikes are happening. It's expensive out there. Also, what you wrote gives the impression of "I've got mine already so I don't care what happens to you."

Define what a livable wage is then. Is it $25/hr? $50/hr? $100/hr?

Healthcare, decent sized apartment, 5 weeks of paid vacation, free or easily affordable pre school, overtime pay, decent schools and free college, is a good start. Then some left over on top after essentials so you aren't living paycheck to paycheck.

Re: Amazon workers to strike at multiple US warehouses during busy holiday season

#257
post #102

I’ve found that the rise of Apply Pay as a payment mechanism on random sites has been helpful in getting me off of Amazon. Often it’s just as easy to order something direct if they have Apple Pay (or ShopPay, but I have other issues with them) and the same price as Amazon. Plus discoverability is awful on Amazon anyways. Still don’t get the Whole Foods return ability when not shopping from Amazon, but not punching in…

> Still don’t get the Whole Foods return ability when not shopping from Amazon Free returns aren't free. We need to de-normalize this practice of people buying so much junk just to immediately return it.

> Free returns aren't free. We need to de-normalize this practice of people buying so much junk just to immediately return it.

One of the things you lose from online shopping is sizing. Shoes run in different sizes, lengths, widths. How do you suggest you order shoes to find the right size if shopping online?

Re: Amazon workers to strike at multiple US warehouses during busy holiday season

#258
post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The first point is true, but most people do not choose it. I do not think your second point stands. Almost the entire world is financially better off than it was in the past. Lots of third world economies are visibly richer than they were a few decades ago. Whose suffering are they benefitting from?

> The first point is true, but most people do not choose it. Because they lack wisdom and human beings en masse operate on instinct, not wisdom. > Almost the entire world is financially better off than it was in the past. Lots of third world economies are visibly richer than they were a few decades ago. Whose suffering are they benefitting from? The classic reply of the economist. It's because the industrial world me…

The prevailing evaluative mechanism would note that you could take that million dollars, invest it in a 4% annuity, and move next to the national park of your choice with $40,000 in your pocket every year for the rest of your life. Indeed, there's a whole movement called FIRE of people who do things like this.

But there's also people like me, who say that sounds great but don't really mean it, because it's cringe to admit that you care about money.

Re: Amazon workers to strike at multiple US warehouses during busy holiday season

#259

Earlier quoted context omitted.

what kind of a law would you put in place here to make this illegal? and who would it cover? amazon has a business, yes? and if you want to do business with amazon you have to abide but those rules. you can also just NOT do business with amazon - sell your shit at another place, done deal. too many times here on HN we see people say what you say - let's just add mooooooar laws (these would have to be FEDERAL to make…

The conditions under which you can do business are governed by law. For example, you can't require that employees enter into a contract for eternal servitude, even though that too could be explained away as "if you want to do business with the company you need to follow their rules". So why exactly would a pricing scheme like this be uniquely difficult/undesirable to outlaw? It seems pretty straightforward to me.

you are comparing something as crazy as “eternal servitude” with company saying “if you want to use our platform you cannot price gouge on it”??! how is paying more on amazon than elsewhere “better for consumers and needs to be regulated”??! so weird we are discussing this at all…

Re: Amazon workers to strike at multiple US warehouses during busy holiday season

#260
post #102

I’ve found that the rise of Apply Pay as a payment mechanism on random sites has been helpful in getting me off of Amazon. Often it’s just as easy to order something direct if they have Apple Pay (or ShopPay, but I have other issues with them) and the same price as Amazon. Plus discoverability is awful on Amazon anyways. Still don’t get the Whole Foods return ability when not shopping from Amazon, but not punching in…

Why do you care about providing your credit card number to order something? You're not liable for fraud and most banks will replace the card quickly. In 25 years of having credit cards and using them extensively online I've had them compromised only a few times. It's really not something to worry about.

For me it is 2-3 times a year, which is a major pain. I have to switch every billing service over manually. Sometimes bills lapse. I have even had replacements stolen from mail and used.
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