That's not "terrible" unless our definition of the word is "a factory or warehouse." If you want deplorable working conditions, perhaps you should be checking out Amazon's suppliers and their factories in developing economies. Let's go through this article point by point.
1. Warehouse workers are treated like robots.Of course they are. It's menial labour. You're at
work.
Most work tends to be dehumanizing to varying degrees - especially unskilled labour. A pesky device that beeps because you've incorrectly picked a product is like basic quality control in a large warehouse that can't be actively supervised. Think about it this way - normally you have the lower rung worker and his or her supervisor or leader telling them to move faster and watching to prevent mistakes. Typically that lower skilled worker's job would get automated whereas in this instance it's the other way around. That nagging supervisor's role of increasing your efficiency has been replaced with a machine. Having worked in factories, I'd rather have a little machine beeping at me than some jerk literally behind me ordering me to speed up. Is that sort of management warranted? I've worked with enough people to believe that it absolutely does serve an important role in making sure workers keep working properly.
And that wank of a quote from the undercover reporter.. "..we might as well be plugging it into ourselves." Such melodrama. I'm sure he feels the same way about the tyranny of his smartphone.
2. Amazon doesn’t pay workers for every hour they work.What an attention grabber that is! I was so let down when I actually read the entry. They have to pass through a security checkpoint on the way out. Sometimes it takes a while. One anecdote should not an outrage make. I have a hard time believing even most Amazon warehouse workers take up to twenty-five minutes to pass through security. But, should that security checkpoint time be paid? That's an intriguing question, sure, but it's certainly not some terrible indictment of Amazon.
3. Warehouses are so big that workers waste their lunch hour just walking to the cafeteria.THE MADNESS! Should this particular warehouse revamp their layout to add more cafeterias? Yeah, probably. It's not worth a boycott, anyway. They should really do something about that, but it's just not that bad, really.. it sucks, but that's about it. It's not humanizing or unsafe. Boycotting for this is like cutting off your foot in response to stubbing a toe.
4. Sometimes warehouses are so hot, people pass out.You know what else can be?
Outside.
From what I've read you're allowed to wear looser clothing in the summer and are encouraged to drink plenty of water. This is hardly a problem uniquely damning of Amazon, by the way. I doubt they have done nothing about it. Employees leaving work early because of heat-related illness is bad for Amazon's bottom line, too. Still, it's just not fair to cherry-pick horror stories to lead the reader into believing Amazon warehouses are terrible.
5. Amazon lets former workers go without unemployment benefits.Despite another case of cherry-picking, I do think this is pretty poor behavior on the part of Ama- oh, wait, this is about the temp agency that supplies Amazon its workers.. so they have no excuse for blaming this one on Amazon.
6. Amazon hates unions.How noteworthy of Amazon, a private enterprise, to not want their workers to organize! All businesses don't want their workers to unionize. Businesses do not like unions usually. They will attempt to subdue the sentiments that encourage workers to organize. That's bad, but also normal.
All this article tells me is that factory and warehouse work isn't pleasant. No kidding. It's not some unique problem endemic to Amazon, though. There are problems that need to be addressed, certainly. But this is a stupid article built on the foundations of faux-outrage that grabs your attention, clearly written by and for people who would hate working in any factory or warehouse.
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