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Amazon instructs New York workers “don't sign” union cards

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Re: Amazon instructs New York workers “don't sign” union cards

#341

Post by Spooky23 »

danaris wrote: post #155
Spooky23 wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the Metro NY and upstate regions, there is a supermarket chain called Shoprite that is unionized. Where I live, none of the other chains are union shops. The only visible difference as a consumer is there are less (or no) automated checkout lanes. Prices are no different than anywhere else.

> The only visible difference as a consumer is there are less (or no) automated checkout lanes. ...Really? That's a straight detriment in my book, as a customer. I would generally prefer to support a union shop, but I'm extremely fond of self-checkout—and, in fact, further upstate, Wegman's has introduced a self-scan app that you can use to tally up your total as you shop, and just scan a code at the self-checkout re…

They are phasing them in for express in this area - but the company needed to negotiate with the union.

The point is, retail and warehouse unions don’t translate into retail apocalypse.

Re: Amazon instructs New York workers “don't sign” union cards

#342

Post by laweijfmvo »

d1sxeyes wrote: post #304
laweijfmvo wrote: post #285

No doubt that Amazon is being scummy here, but you can’t quote someone/something and put a phrase (“don’t sign”) in quotations unless it’s a direct quote…

The article has a photo of a slide with the words “don’t sign” on it at the top.

can’t believe i missed that after scrolling through all the images. how do i downvote myself.

this should be illegal.

Re: Amazon instructs New York workers “don't sign” union cards

#343

Post by pseudo0 »

filoleg wrote: post #312
wahnfrieden wrote: post #264

Earlier quoted context omitted.

pmc and workers aren't allies

How are private military contractors related to Kroger workers, and why are they expected (or not) to be allies in the first place?

Professional-managerial class. Basically people with white collar jobs who have more sway than the working class due to professional moats (university degrees, accreditations) and more influence on society due to controlling to some degree how capital is deployed.

The point here is that getting blacklisted is probably a much scarier prospect for the manager. PMC jobs typically have more stringent reference checks and employment history requirements. Meanwhile a low-wage grocery store clerk is going to have no trouble finding another shitty job. Typical minimum wage jobs just want someone who will show up and doesn't have a criminal record.

Re: Amazon instructs New York workers “don't sign” union cards

#344

Post by throwaway894345 »

tablespoon wrote: post #339
throwaway894345 wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ironically, he didn’t even cross state lines (at least not that night), he was there the night before sleeping over at a friend’s house.

What are you taking about?

No post body was provided.

Re: Amazon instructs New York workers “don't sign” union cards

#345

Post by tablespoon »

throwaway894345 wrote: post #344
tablespoon wrote: post #339

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What are you taking about?

Quoted post unavailable.

Did that person have any connection to the Amazon Labor Union? I'm just trying to figure out how I was supposed to follow this subthread.

Re: Amazon instructs New York workers “don't sign” union cards

#346

Post by makomk »

lozenge wrote: post #254
danaris wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> if they are earning 2%-4% profit margins They're not (depending on the product). My wife used to work in Halloween costume design for a wholesaler (and some of her costumes did end up in Target and Walmart, which was cool to see), and the retailers' margins on those were at least 50%. As I said, the margin does depend heavily on the product, but do not assume that across-the-board average margins are anywhere near…

That's a markup, not a profit margin. A profit margin is after all expenses, which a wholesaler doesn't know about.

Yeah, and I don't think it would be terribly unusual for 50% markups to translate to low-single-digit profit margins in cost-competitive retail sectors - those both seem like about the right ballpark overall. Retail has a lot of costs and wages are one of the big ones.

Re: Amazon instructs New York workers “don't sign” union cards

#347

Post by notacoward »

capableweb wrote: post #19

mrits: "You guys love the police union too, right? Right???" The general idea, yeah. It proves how strong a union can be. The implementation? No. A union for people who have monopoly on violence? No. A union that protects people who are actively hurting civilians without recourse? No.

> people who are actively hurting civilians

Police are civilians too. Using "civilian" in this way is supporting the militarization of police, and is not a good thing.

Re: Amazon instructs New York workers “don't sign” union cards

#349

Post by breakyerself »

IMTDb wrote: post #295
noisy_boy wrote: post #5

> The ALU may ask you to sign an authorization card or share a QR code to fill out an online authorization card. > This is a legally binding document Ooh scary ... is the employment contract signed by Amazon's employees not legally binding? How is it Amazon's business what their grown-ass employees can or cannot sign? > By signing a card or filling out an online authorization form, you are providing the ALU your pers…

>> By signing a card or filling out an online authorization form, you are authorizing the ALU to speak on your behalf. > And thats terrible how? You really can't see the issue with authorising a group you have little to no control over, speak on your behalf ? I can totally understand that people share some views with what unions are currently defending. But the requirement on signing a paper that says "whatever the u…

Unions are democratically controlled by the membership. When was the last time your employer gave you a vote on anything?
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