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Amazon Workers in Europe Stage 'We Are Not Robots' Protests on One of Its Busiest Shopping Days (techcrunch.com)
Some of Amazon's workers in Europe are protesting against what they call unfair work conditions, in a move meant to disrupt operations on Black Friday. From a report: They've timed the latest protest for Black Friday, one of the busiest annual shopping days online as retailers slash prices and heavily promote deals to try to spark a seasonal buying rush. In the UK, the GMB Union says it's expecting "hundreds" to attend protests timed for early morning and afternoon at Amazon warehouses in Rugeley, Milton Keynes, Warrington, Peterborough and Swansea. At the time of writing the union had not provided details of turnout so far.
Protests are also reported to be taking place in Spain, France and Italy today. Although, when asked about strikes at its facilities in these countries, Amazon claimed: "Our European Fulfilment Network is fully operational and we continue to focus on delivering for our customers. Any reports to the contrary are simply wrong." The demonstrations look intended to not only apply pressure on Amazon to accept collective bargaining but encourage users of its website to think about the wider costs involved in packing and despatching the discounted products they're trying to grab. In a statement on Wednesday announcing the Black Friday protest, Tim Roache, the GMB's general secretary, said: "The conditions our members at Amazon are working under are frankly inhuman. They are breaking bones, being knocked unconscious and being taken away in ambulances. We're standing up and saying enough is enough, these are people making Amazon its money. People with kids, homes, bills to pay -- they're not robots."
Protests are also reported to be taking place in Spain, France and Italy today. Although, when asked about strikes at its facilities in these countries, Amazon claimed: "Our European Fulfilment Network is fully operational and we continue to focus on delivering for our customers. Any reports to the contrary are simply wrong." The demonstrations look intended to not only apply pressure on Amazon to accept collective bargaining but encourage users of its website to think about the wider costs involved in packing and despatching the discounted products they're trying to grab. In a statement on Wednesday announcing the Black Friday protest, Tim Roache, the GMB's general secretary, said: "The conditions our members at Amazon are working under are frankly inhuman. They are breaking bones, being knocked unconscious and being taken away in ambulances. We're standing up and saying enough is enough, these are people making Amazon its money. People with kids, homes, bills to pay -- they're not robots."
... to give your employer more incentive to replace you even faster now.
Fucking hell people...
I tend to rant.
Not even close to the busiest shopping day of the year compared to Singles Day.
Inheritance is the sincerest form of nepotism.
It's interesting that they compare the Amazon warehouse square footage to a nearby Tesco grocery warehouse - by the area of the building.
How many people work in each, and how many hours per day do people work there? How healthy were those employees when they started work? Amazon is pretty well-known for hiring just about anyone, including people with known health problems. Does the grocery store warehouse even hire pregnant women at all for production jobs?
Amazon warehouses are often 24/7 environments, while most grocery warehouses close for several hours per day (or reduce staff drastically overnight). That's probably also an issue.
How busy is the Tesco warehouse? Do they have a few hundred thousand different items to pick, wrap, and ship to thousands of different addresses per day, like the Amazon location, or are they like a normal grocery distribution center that sends out a few dozen trucks during a normal work day? The packaging difference alone probably doubles or triples the Amazon workforce right off the bat.
And last... it looks like the Amazon site calls an ambulance for just about anything. Does Tesco do the same, or do they just stand around and stall until they're forced to, hoping the employee will decide to wander over to the hospital after work?
They don't have Thanksgiving on Thursday, so Friday is just a regular work day.
I don't know the safety record of Amazon vs comparable companies. That would be interesting to find out.
What I DO know is that "we are not robots" is kind of a dumb thing for the union boss to say to a company considering replacing workers with robots. The union is basically saying "you'd be better off replacing us with robots". Bad choice of words.
Aww, that's cute and completely shows a lack of understanding of how the world works.
So the US cuts its defense budget by 90%. That means no more money to maintain any form of nuclear deterrent. So that would mean
that all of our Minuteman missiles are closed down, our Ohio class subs are scrapped, and our B52s are sent to the boneyard.
But wait, China and Russia didn't follow suit with us. They now have zero reasons to fear the US retaliation for anything.
Want to invade Taiwan? Go for it. Want to attack Japan? sure! Never mind that we are treaty obligated to protect Japan, South Korea,
Philippines, and all of Western Europe. Fuck those guys right?
10% of the military budget would not allow for a single ship in the Navy, perhaps a few brigades of soldiers, and a couple of wings
of aircraft. Why even keep that around? It wouldn't be able to defend the US or project beyond our borders. There would
no longer be a point in having a military.
I am constantly in shock at how reckless the extreme left is about this subject. Is there extreme waste in the military?
Absolutely. Are the things that need to be resolved? You bet. But saying instead, lets defend the military? That shows how
much lack of knowledge you really have on how this world operates.
Mass shootings are caused by mental illness
plus guns. Mental illness plus guns.
What you said is about as true as saying that ice is caused by water. No, there is another necessary condition that has to happen in the same place.