Home › Forums › Open Discussion › Amazon warehouse practices
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October 3, 2014 at 8:10 pm #612859
skeeterParticipantLook! Skeeter’s gonna side with workers, not the business owner, on an issue.
Apparently Amazon warehouse workers, after clocking out, must go through a security check to make sure they are not stealing any product. The workers want to be paid for the time they spend waiting in the security line, which can be up to 30 minutes.
I’m 100% with the workers on this issue. If the employer is requiring a security check then the employer should be required to pay the employee for that time.
Actually, it makes me really mad at Amazon if they are currently not paying the employees for this time. That’s grossly unfair.
October 3, 2014 at 8:17 pm #814466
JanSParticipantI’m with you, Skeeter (hey, we agree on something – lol). And I just love the trust factor there, don’t you?
October 3, 2014 at 9:18 pm #814467
JustSarahParticipantRidiculous. Yes, the time clock needs to be *after* the security check if Amazon requires this of its employees.
October 3, 2014 at 9:24 pm #814468
miwsParticipantYep! I agree too!
(Okay, now that some of us that normally disagree on many issues, actually agree on something, we need to agree to not disagree on anything else until after the Picnic in a couple days, then we can resume to agree to disagree on a lot of stuff.
Does everyone, or even ANYone, find that agreeable?) ;-)
Mike
October 3, 2014 at 10:12 pm #814469
wakefloodParticipantHey Amazon also has the right to NOT be stolen from. And they only instituted this practice AFTER they had record and substantial shortages in expensive products that are small enough to smuggle on your person.
They’re only doing what is warranted by all the dishonest employees who get lots of other perks!
…Were you guys buying that? ;-)
October 3, 2014 at 10:44 pm #814470
skeeterParticipantI’m okay with the security measures. Demeaning? Yes. But Amazon has an obligation to its shareholders to protect its assets. A dishonest employee could put thousands of dollars of merchandise in his pockets (jewelry, electronics, etc.) It is awful for the 90+ percent of employees who are honest but I guess that’s the way it goes.
However… the security measures are for the protection/benefit of the employer. So Amazon should be required to pay the employees for the time involved for the security check. It’s just a cost of doing business and the employer has to bear it. I can’t believe this is even an issue. Shame on Amazon.
October 3, 2014 at 10:51 pm #814471
skeeterParticipantMike, I promise the picnic will be a joyful event without even a hint of discord.* No worries at all. Mrs. Skeeter tells me I have to be on my best behavior. If I’m wrong, I’ll buy you dinner at Salty’s.
*unless someone brings an off-leash dog
October 3, 2014 at 11:43 pm #814472
miwsParticipantOctober 3, 2014 at 11:48 pm #814473
dobroParticipantHere’s a crazy idea. What if Amazon workers had a union? The employers might be cajoled, maybe even pressured, into showing some respect and responsibility toward their workers and maybe even collectively barg…uhhh…wait…no, that’ll never work. Forget I suggested anything.
October 3, 2014 at 11:57 pm #814474
JoBParticipanthehehehehe
October 3, 2014 at 11:58 pm #814475
skeeterParticipantMy guess, and it’s only a guess, is if Amazon believed there was a credible attempt at a union they would shut the warehouse down in a matter of days and move all inventory to a different warehouse. All employees at old warehouse would be terminated.
Amazon’s business model depends on workers working very, very fast. Any worker not working fast is terminated. If the union doesn’t get what it wants it could organize a slowdown that would cripple the operation.
I could be wrong. Heck- I hope I’m wrong. But I see Amazon fighting a union with every last penny in the coffers.
October 4, 2014 at 12:45 am #814476
oceanParticipant“
Mike, I promise the picnic will be a joyful event without even a hint of discord.* No worries at all. Mrs. Skeeter tells me I have to be on my best behavior. If I’m wrong, I’ll buy you dinner at Salty’s.
“
Mike, I’m gonna be disagreeable at the picnic JUST so that you get a free dinner at Salty’s, courtesy of Skeeter!
= )
October 4, 2014 at 1:19 am #814477
miwsParticipantThanks ocean! :-)
(But, I dunno. it would probably be a meal consumed with guilt, because I met skeeter a few months ago, and he’s a really nice guy!)
Mike
October 4, 2014 at 4:27 pm #814478
annaeileenParticipantI have mixed feelings about Amazon in general. At first I was excited because they were a book seller but I have seen them grow into the WalMart of the internet and now I rarely buy anything from their site. I use it for research and then try and by local if I can. I have worked where we had to use see thru bags for our belongings so they could make sure we didn’t steal anything and when I worked at Nintendo the warehouse people couldn’t have bags with the for the same reason so I get that they would be a prime target for employee theft. I agree, they should pay their employees while they wait to be searched. I also agree they would shut down a warehouse as soon as they could if the workers tried to unionize. Thanks for the info, all the more reason for me to not use their site.
October 5, 2014 at 4:54 am #814479
waterworldParticipantThe New Yorker published and interesting article earlier this year about Amazon and CEO Jeff Bezos. Among other things, it describes why Bezos decided to focus on books initially, as a “wedge into selling everything else.” He wasn’t interested in creating a great bookstore in cyberspace; he saw selling books as a way to gather information on affluent and educated shoppers. It seems clear his plan has succeeded at doing that. It is beyond disappointing that the company doesn’t take better care of their workers.
October 5, 2014 at 4:56 am #814480
waterworldParticipantOctober 5, 2014 at 3:40 pm #814481
dobroParticipant“It is beyond disappointing that the company doesn’t take better care of their workers.”
There are no corporate-sized companies that voluntarily “take care” of their workers. That’s why unions were invented.
October 5, 2014 at 5:14 pm #814482
wakefloodParticipantDoesn’t it just make you shake your head sometimes?
Yet another iteration of industrial servitude, guilded age wealth and power accumulation, union-busting, inevitably followed by revolution, is in mid cycle.
One of the differences being in this go round is that the union busting is under the guise that workers should be able to pursue their dream independently from the other rabble they can differentiate themselves from if they only work hard enough. Freedom is power! Everyone is equal, some more equal than others! Don’t be tied to those slackers, you’re better than that…aren’t you??? Yeah, that’s the ticket!
The only chapters left to be written are when/where the revolution truly starts and what the new world order looks like, post America’s Empire.
I wonder if, as JTB offers, the international financial oligarchy will survive intact? Will they hide in their physical and digital currency havens, insulated from the masses and still be connected to the political power? Will they pretend to link arms with whatever new power structure in a show of solidarity with the masses? What happens when ostentatious wealth displays become advertisements for a comeuppance delivered by the very folks whose backs were broken to make the display possible?
Hope I’m around to see it, however it plays out!
October 6, 2014 at 8:58 pm #814483
waterworldParticipantDobro: I agree with you at the 99% level. When I wrote that, I was thinking of the one local Fortune 100 company that does treat its workers very well — Costco. Bezos undoubtedly knows the founders, who all live here, and he could have borrowed some of their ideas and practices. But I understand that unionizing is generally the only reliable way for workers to protect themselves.
October 6, 2014 at 9:22 pm #814484
dobroParticipant“When I wrote that, I was thinking of the one local Fortune 100 company that does treat its workers very well…”
That, of course, is the sad part. Out of all the corporations we’re familiar with you can name one that is known for treating its workers well. Not 2, or 5, or 10. Just one. That only changes when workers have some power and they only have power when they’re willing to unionize.
October 7, 2014 at 5:39 am #814485
JoBParticipanti think the supreme court is looking at this issue
with we the people arguing for the employers :(
October 7, 2014 at 10:13 pm #814486
wakefloodParticipantdobro, the only major corporation that comes to mind that actually walks the talk is Costco.
They’ve held the line remarkably well given the pressure for them to cave coming from almost every angle.
They should be a model for many companies but they’re probably cursed by lots of corporate boards for making them look bad.
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