Slashdot Mirror
Black Friday Protest Sites Included An Amazon Warehouse (thecourier.co.uk)
An anonymous reader writes:
Friday a group of protesters picketed Amazon's warehouse in Dunfermline, Scotland, alleging workers there face "up to 60 hours per week for little more than the minimum wage," according to an article in The Courier. "They also claim that new workers are tracked and monitored every minute of their working day and sacked if they fail to meet targets... Amazon has dismissed the claims, insisting that the firm values its employees and maintains a 'culture of direct dialogue' with them."
But around the world, more than 1 million people celebrated Buy Nothing Day on Friday, according to the editor in chief of Adbusters, saying their event has now spread to more than 60 countries. The Adbusters.org site suggested protesters stage zombie walks to parody the mindlessness of consumerism, and urged credit card-cutting ceremonies as well as "Whirl-Marts," where large groups of people "silently drive your shopping carts around in a long, inexplicable conga line without ever actually buying anything." The site is also sharing downloadable images which can be printed out for posters "to insert into public spaces."
One prominent retailer even closed both its physical and online stores Friday and gave all of its 12,000 employees the day off, according to USA Today. REI, which sells outdoor recreational equipment, was encouraging people to take advantage of Friday's free admission to many state parks for the second year in a row, and as many as 2.7 million people "pledged to participate" using the company's hashtag, #OptOutside.
But around the world, more than 1 million people celebrated Buy Nothing Day on Friday, according to the editor in chief of Adbusters, saying their event has now spread to more than 60 countries. The Adbusters.org site suggested protesters stage zombie walks to parody the mindlessness of consumerism, and urged credit card-cutting ceremonies as well as "Whirl-Marts," where large groups of people "silently drive your shopping carts around in a long, inexplicable conga line without ever actually buying anything." The site is also sharing downloadable images which can be printed out for posters "to insert into public spaces."
One prominent retailer even closed both its physical and online stores Friday and gave all of its 12,000 employees the day off, according to USA Today. REI, which sells outdoor recreational equipment, was encouraging people to take advantage of Friday's free admission to many state parks for the second year in a row, and as many as 2.7 million people "pledged to participate" using the company's hashtag, #OptOutside.
You sound like the psychopath. My statement is "A lot of minimum wage people would love to get 60 hours a week of work." Thats it. Now go make me a latte.
the protesters have a good point about the working conditions
No they do not. Working at a warehouse doing the remaining things that are just a bit too tricky for a robot to do yet, is not at all hard nor requires any skill.
Why should such jobs pay much? Since anyone can do them workers are a dime a dozen.
As for working 60 hours a week - honestly that is a laughable amount of work to complain about. Never mind that a large number of people at Slashdot probably have worked much longer hours than that for a greater amount of time than Amazon's seasonal workforce does, there are a HUGE number of salaried office workers across America working longer hours per week the whole year and getting paid nothing extra for doing so.
Maybe Amazon should placate the protestors by doing what most companies do these days and give each worker just 20 hours a week instead of 60... which do you think would honestly make the workers happy? Remember most of them are seasonal and will only be there a month or two. Your plan for them earning money the rest of the year? Remember being paid hourly hours behind 40 they would get time and a half for (not sure what Scotland's rules are on that) which when I worked hourly I was pretty keen on.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Careful where you order that. A "Latte" is a wooden beam in Germany. And you just might get it. To the neck.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.