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amazon on Channel 4 news

Nigel

Nigel

pfm Member
Did anyone see the Channel 4 News report yesterday evening, regarding employees working conditions in the massive amazon warehouse in Rugby? Workers are allegedly GPS tracked to make sure they are packing our packages quickly enough and watching they don't spend too long in the toilets. Zero hours contracts rule. Half an hour for lunch but it takes fifteen minutes to walk to the canteen, as the warehouse is the size of thirteen football pitches, followed by five minutes of searching to make sure you're not robbing. Then you are penalized if you return back late.

Saddens me to see the erosion of workers terms and conditions, struggled and fought for over centuries by our forefathers. Still, we are letting it happen.
 
It's just the way large corporations are. My last conventional job role was that of technical trainer / quality manager for a very large ISP's main technical helpdesk. Much of what is described above was in place at that company 13 years ago when I was there. As I was a fair way up the greasy pole I got to see other aspects too, e.g. the deliberate over-selling of broadband capacity etc (i.e. taking people's money in the full knowledge the service they'd receive would be dreadful). There's a superb canadian documentary called The Corporation that argues that corporations are inherently psychopathic in nature. It makes a remarkably strong case and I'd certainly recommend people watched it.
 
Nigel said:
Did anyone see the Channel 4 News report yesterday evening, regarding employees working conditions in the massive amazon warehouse in Rugby? Workers are allegedly GPS tracked to make sure they are packing our packages quickly enough and watching they don't spend too long in the toilets. Zero hours contracts rule. Half an hour for lunch but it takes fifteen minutes to walk to the canteen, as the warehouse is the size of thirteen football pitches, followed by five minutes of searching to make sure you're not robbing. Then you are penalized if you return back late.

Saddens me to see the erosion of workers terms and conditions, struggled and fought for over centuries by our forefathers. Still, we are letting it happen.
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I'm sure the old argument of if you don't like it work somewhere else will be trotted out by some. Completely missing the reality of lack of choice/mobility in the employment market. The point being that for a variety of reasons some people will have no choice but to work for such employers.
 
Tony L said:
It's just the way large corporations are. My last conventional job role was that of technical trainer / quality manager for a very large ISP's main technical helpdesk. Much of what is described above was in place at that company 13 years ago when I was there. As I was a fair way up the greasy pole I got to see other aspects too, e.g. the deliberate over-selling of broadband capacity etc (i.e. taking people's money in the full knowledge the service they'd receive would be dreadful). There's a superb canadian documentary called The Corporation that argues that corporations are inherently psychopathic in nature. It makes a remarkably strong case and I'd certainly recommend people watched it.
Click to expand...

There was a program (Horizon I believe) on a few months ago looking in to Psychopaths. Apparently a survey conducted by one of the scientists on the program showed that the incidence of Psychopaths in board rooms of large corporations was 20x the national average. Or something along those lines.
 
Since I've learned about the way Amazon treats its employees and that the corporation does its best to not pay tax, I've been trying to find another way to buy CDs, classical in particular.

Supporting the local economy isn't an option. The chain record stores have almost no classical discs in stock (just a few best-of Bach and Beethoven discs) and the only classical CD shop in town closed about two years ago.

Are there any ethical online CD vendors out there?

Joe
 
One more thing I forgot to mention, I'm sure it stated some employees walk around 27 miles a day!
 
GTM said:
There was a program (Horizon I believe) on a few months ago looking in to Psychopaths. Apparently a survey conducted by one of the scientists on the program showed that the incidence of Psychopaths in board rooms of large corporations was 20x the national average. Or something along those lines.
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i bet that also applies to politicians, especially at local council level.
 
GPS tags? What about remote control collars that can explode their carotid arteries if the are caught skiving more than once?
.
 
The company I worked at till a few years ago (a few of my mates still work there...just) routinely kicks its staff in the nuts and strips away any incentive to gain loyalty and better performance out of the staff and then the board wonders why overall performance and the share price is plummeting.

The staff have to re-apply for their jobs (well another job, you just get re-deployed to work on a project that 6 others have each spent time ****ing about with) every four months. The pension has gone, the redundancy package has largely gone. You have a different boss every few weeks who hasn't got a clue who you are or what you do.

And this is a FTSE100 company!!!!

I tell you very few companies (even the big ones) have the best of the best at the top.
 
Supermarkets do this with online shopping. The 'personal' shoppers are timed. Basically anyone with a disability wouldn't get a look in other than a token worker.
 
Chaps

A few years ago I had lunch with the Purchasing Manager of Amazon. He rolled up in a XK8 and treated me to a very good lunch with plenty of brandy's to wash it down. He certainly was not skint.

Just proves the point - get yourself trained in a value add job or be a pleb.

Regards

Mick
 
Mick P said:
A few years ago I had lunch with the Purchasing Manager of Amazon. He rolled up in a XK8 and treated me to a very good lunch with plenty of brandy's to wash it down. He certainly was not skint.
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Ah, must be great being a Mason...
 
Mick,

That's rich considering how often you troll.

Joe
 
Joe P said:
Mick,

That's rich considering how often you troll.

Joe
Click to expand...

Joe

I never troll - I just dish out the plain facts which sometimes are uncomfortable. In this instance what I am saying is that if an unskilled person applies for a job as a storekeeper, they are competing with thousands of other unskilled applicants and that means that even if you land the job, you are going right to the bottom of the pecking order.

If they get trained into a value add job, they stand a good chance of driving a XK8 etc.

That is a fact, it happens here and it happens in Canada.

Regards

Mick
 
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