Struggling Workers Found Sleeping In Tents Behind Amazon's Warehouse (thecourier.co.uk)

"At least three tents have been spotted in woodland beside the online retail giant's base," reports a Scottish newspaper -- hidden behind trees, but within sight of Amazon's warehouse, and right next to a busy highway. An anonymous reader writes: Despite Scotland's "bitterly cold winter nights" -- with lows in the 30s -- the tent "was easier and cheaper than commuting from his home," one Amazon worker told the Courier. (Though yesterday someone stole all of his camping equipment.) Amazon charges its employees for shuttle service to the fulfillment center, which "swallows up a lot of the weekly wage," one political party leader told the Courier, "forcing people to seek ever more desperate ways of making work pay.

"Amazon should be ashamed that they pay their workers so little that they have to camp out in the dead of winter to make ends meet..." he continued. "They pay a small amount of tax and received millions of pounds from the Scottish National Party Government, so the least they should do is pay the proper living wage." Though the newspaper reports that holiday shopping has created 4,000 temporary jobs in the small town of Dunfermline, "The company came under fire last month from local activists who claimed that agency workers are working up to 60 hours per week for little more than the minimum wage and are harshly treated."
Amazon responded, "The safety and well-being of our permanent and temporary associates is our number one priority."

Comments

poor workers?

[Mishotaki]

well, they are getting more than minimum wage... if they don't have enough, they can negotiate for more or leave... if Amazon can't find workers because they don't pay enough they will either give more or get out... therefore removing the problem. if you're losing money by working, find another job! if you're not paid enough, find another job! if Amazon loses you, they will hire someone else until they can't find anyone who wants to work for them and will then have to do something about it.... or start a worker union to force their hand!

Obvious solution

[LostMyBeaver]

1) Eliminate minimum wage and allow the market to set the rate through competition. Minimum wage sets a nationwide standard of how little a person in a position like this is worth. As a result, companies standardize on the wage or close to it because the government has researched and set the wage appropriately to represent a livable wage. All western countries with a minimum wage suffer this same problem. All western countries without a minimum wage tend to allow workers the opportunity to leave their current positions and negotiate something better elsewhere. Remember, no one actually forced these workers to accept a salary of minimum wage. They actually valued themselves this low because they applied for a job well know to pay the absolute bare minimum the government is willing to allow. If there was no such standard, opportunistic employers would offer less and find that social welfare is more lucrative. They would be forced to offer more to be competitive.

2) Correct the minimum wage, but only for employees who complete training on managing a household budget. People who have adapted to a minimum wage standard have grown used to living in deeper and deeper debt. As such, they need to be properly trained how to manage their finances once they have more to work with. History has proven repetitively that simply giving someone more money doesn't actually improve lifestyles but more commonly incurs more debt. Without some possibly heavy handed training, people will continue to spend as though they have no means to exit the debt hole. Also offer short term debt relief to help the person(s) start fresh.

Finally as a bonus, move to monthly salaries. All bills the people need to pay occur once a month. By paying once a month, there is a moment in time where the person should have enough money in hand to pay all their bills and see how much they have left for the month. Being paid more frequently requires the person to manage their money to pay their bills. This is almost deadly to people working minimum wage jobs.