Angry the Clown 4,327 Posted May 29, 2019 Report Share Posted May 29, 2019 Heads up for those of us in the UK. Amazon seem to be rolling out a new policy of charging at the point of purchase for pre-ordered items. I’m not a fan of this change at all. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JFo 1,864 Posted November 26, 2019 Report Share Posted November 26, 2019 Ruthless Quotas at Amazon Are Maiming Employees Will Evens, writing for The Atlantic: Quote Amazon's famous speed and technological innovation have driven the company’s massive global expansion and a valuation well over $800 billion. It’s also helped make Amazon the nation’s second-largest private employer behind Walmart and its CEO, Jeff Bezos, one of the richest humans on Earth. Now, an investigation by Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting has found that the company’s obsession with speed has turned its warehouses into injury mills. Reveal amassed internal injury records from 23 of the company’s 110 fulfillment centers nationwide. Taken together, the rate of serious injuries for those facilities was more than double the national average for the warehousing industry: 9.6 serious injuries per 100 full-time workers in 2018, compared with an industry average that year of 4. While a handful of centers were at or below the industry average, Reveal found that some centers, such as the Eastvale warehouse, were especially dangerous. Dixon’s was one of 422 injuries recorded there last year. Its rate of serious injuries — those requiring job restrictions or days off work — was more than four times the industry average. There's lots more in the article itself. After reading it, I wouldn't be surprised if Amazon forced employees to keep working if the building were burning down, then dock pay or fire those dare leave their post. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JoeyN 1,315 Posted November 26, 2019 Report Share Posted November 26, 2019 Amazon is always the easy company to target, but this stuff has gone on at retailers, and large company warehouses for a very long time. Ask UPS workers what they are out through, it’s eye opening, Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Robot Monkey 510 Posted November 27, 2019 Report Share Posted November 27, 2019 I think you're right, Joey, on all counts. But I think we agree that it doesn't excuse Amazon? I just wish the deserved outrage doesn't have a whiff of specificity to Amazon. As an analogy, we can find any number of pieces taking tech companies to task for loosey-goosey attitudes to privacy, but when California's DMV makes millions selling motorists personal information we don't hear much. I'm very glad that there are people out there who aren't asleep at the wheel when it comes to the tech companies, but what's the missing piece when it comes to, say, the California DMV? Not to hijack the thread, but spend some time reading up on Third Party Doctrine and what it means to the Fourth Amendment -- that's eye-opening! Dammit, I did just conduct a Two-Martini Threadjack after Jeff and Joey's thoughtful posts about Amazon. Sorry. Back to holiday cleaning for me. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JoeyN 1,315 Posted November 27, 2019 Report Share Posted November 27, 2019 Does not excuse amazon at all. You also have google employees that live out of their cars because of the rents in SF. The list can go on and on. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Robot Monkey 510 Posted November 27, 2019 Report Share Posted November 27, 2019 No, as I said -- I agree with you. Just trying to put a finer point on it and struggling through the thought process through what is now three martinis. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JFo 1,864 Posted November 28, 2019 Report Share Posted November 28, 2019 Jesus Fucking Christ. Inside Amazon's delivery push: Employees and drivers say an overworked system is lax on safety as packages pile up Quote Inside Amazon warehouses, the rate of serious injuries is more than double the national average for the industry, according to the nonprofit news outlet Reveal and the Atlantic magazine, which analyzed records from 23 of 110 fulfillment centers. Amazon told the outlets that its rates are high because it is aggressive about recording injuries and cautious about allowing the injured to resume work before they’re ready. No, the rate of serious injuries is higher because safety isn’t a priority for management. They care more about fulfilling orders on time than they do about the well being of their employees, who they see a replaceable cogs in a machine rather than human beings. If safety where a concern, Amazon probably wouldn’t see as many accidents in their facilities. Quote Karamo Rowe, who delivered Amazon packages for a contracted delivery company for several months this year, called the experience “chaos.” Initially, he was attracted to the job because of what he believed would be opportunities to advance. But when he was given more than 300 packages to deliver in a single shift each day, it made him “do things you normally wouldn’t do as a human being.” “You don’t take your lunch break. You don’t use the bathroom. ... There were guys peeing in bottles in the van,” Rowe said, adding that he did the same. “You speed. You run stop signs in a neighborhood. ...You start conditioning yourself to just go as fast as possible.” Gee, I’ve always wanted a job where I could have my own pee bottle. Also, a job where I’m not only a danger to myself, but anyone on the road sounds like great fun. Anyway, my household’s received two packages from Amazon in the past two days. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Eldorado 775 Posted November 28, 2019 Report Share Posted November 28, 2019 I don't work for Amazon, never have. I've peed in a bottle while working. I've sped while working. I see quite a few non-amazon employees speeding regularly. Anything else people do are personal choices. This isn't China for Christ's sake. The new contracted Amazon drivers, believe it or not, do not work directly for Amazon. They work for independent businesses that use Amazon branding, with their permission of course. I work in a small business, that I own part of, and injured my tailbone quite nicely about a month and half ago. And while I do care about safety I sure as hell didn't "report it" to some damn bureaucratic oversight committee. So how many people injure themselves on the job, regularly, that never get reported because they don't have a squad of supervisors and managers and camera systems watching them every second? I don't need the hassle of going under the "concussion protocol" when I smack my head standing up under some pallet racking. I almost bought into becoming one of Amazon's delivery contractors. However, after giving it a good hard thought about Amazon's business, and what happens to their partners, made me realize that would be incredibly difficult and risky. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Carlucci 705 Posted February 10 Report Share Posted February 10 Anyone else find that the timing of their delivery-by-Amazon is inversely related to the degree of anticipation? Some badass new product? Arrives between 7-9pm, and they taunt you with the "it's-10-stops-away" real-time tracker! Something you don't need/want in your hands right fucking now? Siting on your doorstep at 10am. Do they have an algorithm for this or some shit? It seems beyond coincidental for me. Anyone consistently on the early-bird delivery continuum? I mean, there has to be a lucky HALF who are on the morning-side of the delivery route, right? Carlos. Josh, jubjub75 and Robot Monkey 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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