Amazon worse than Walmart: Being a frequent Amazon shopper, my husband gave me an article to read about their labor practices, I was truly shocked o learn how American workers are...

sueyeisert Loc: New Jersey

Being a frequent Amazon shopper, my husband gave me an article to read about their labor practices, I was truly shocked o learn how American workers are treated by Amazon. It's also interesting to note that inGermany the workers are treated much better because of strong work councils and government support. Well I made my last Amazon purchase last night. Here's the link to the article published in Salon. http://www.salon.com/2014/02/23/worse_than_wal_mart_amazons_sick_brutality_and_secret_history_of_ruthlessly_intimidating_workers/

jaysnave Loc: Central Ohio

I don't get it. I have worked in manufacturing and distribution my entire life and of course you use time and motion studies to find the most efficient process. Some call it working smarter not harder. Dock and put away distance studies lead to more conducive layouts that benefit everyone. In my company those activities are also done from the ground up with teams from the production floor. I don't see anything in the article citing any abuse of safety or morale issues?

sueyeisert Loc: New Jersey

Really?? 110 degree temperatures,keeping doors closed in hot conditions, walking 15 miles in an 11 hour shift, , the ER doctor called in Pa to complain about Amazon. Are we robots. Read the article again.

jaysnave wrote:

I don't get it. I have worked in manufacturing and distribution my entire life and of course you use time and motion studies to find the most efficient process. Some call it working smarter not harder. Dock and put away distance studies lead to more conducive layouts that benefit everyone. In my company those activities are also done from the ground up with teams from the production floor. I don't see anything in the article citing any abuse of safety or morale issues?

zuke Loc: Catatonic State

Salon is far from the epitome of journalistic integrity. I would take anything they (or their sources) say with a healthy grain of salt. Salon wouldn't have an agenda, would they? Just sayin' . . .

sueyeisert Loc: New Jersey

Well, it's a well constructed article with many sources from here and abroad. Who would you suggest I read Ruppert Murdock or propaganda from the heritage foundation?

zuke wrote:

Salon is far from the epitome of journalistic integrity. I would take anything they (or their sources) say with a healthy grain of salt. Salon wouldn't have an agenda, would they? Just sayin' . . .

sb Loc: Florida's East Coast

Oooohhh....the "cult of the customer". I am happy to be paid that much attention for a change. It sounds like mostly the employees have to keep busy. Is that abuse? I worked at an oil refinery in Texas in the hot summer sun when younger - I think I would have traded it for an Amazon Distribution Center!

geclevel Loc: Springville, Utah

jaysnave wrote:

I don't get it. I have worked in manufacturing and distribution my entire life and of course you use time and motion studies to find the most efficient process. Some call it working smarter not harder. Dock and put away distance studies lead to more conducive layouts that benefit everyone. In my company those activities are also done from the ground up with teams from the production floor. I don't see anything in the article citing any abuse of safety or morale issues?

Well said. I work in manufacturing also. When a manufacturer can reduce the movement of their employees to complete tasks the manufacturer can keep their costs down. When costs are kept down the customer sees benefits of this also. It sucks that the inside of a warehouse reached 115 degrees and people got sick. I don't have enough first hand data to conclude Amazon created these conditions maliciously. As far as calling places like OSHA, any one can call and say anything without facts.
Take a look at Toyota and their TPM process, also look SMED's (single minute exchange of dies), these process are costly for companies to implement but in the end both customers and businesses will win.

Raider Fan Loc: Lake County, IL.

sueyeisert wrote:

Being a frequent Amazon shopper, my husband gave m... (show quote)

I would not believe ANYTHING that I read in Salon!!

sueyeisert Loc: New Jersey

The point is- Workers are loosing their rights which were fought for. Will it take another triangle shirt factory fire before workplace conditions are carefully examined. Are we serfs? Doing your job is one thing, but to have drones spying on you and overseers watching every step is another thing. Are we slaves. what kind of people are we becoming do we pray to the corporate diety. How much money does a company need to make at the expense of their employees. Jeff Bezos isn't making enough money.

warrior Loc: Paso Robles CA

sueyeisert wrote:

Being a frequent Amazon shopper, my husband gave m... (show quote)

I stopped when Amazon knuckled under CA Tax law

Singing Swan

I have a friend who works for an Amazon distribution point...for a long time and she would never give up her job. She likes the work and the pay and the benefits. Maybe you've been brainwashed!!! O NO!!

I used to work in the kitchen of a restaurant (a well known chain) and when the outside temps hit 90....indoors could be even worse what with ovens and boiling water etc etc. 115 sounds about right. We would take turns to go and stand in the freezers for three minutes and go right back to work. It's a pity we never thought of suing those folks!!

sueyeisert Loc: New Jersey

You can't make a judgment on your one friend's single account-perhaps she's been brainwashed. What an argument you present!

Singing Swan wrote:

I have a friend who works for an Amazon distributi... (show quote)

Singing Swan

You based your decision on one article. What an argument you present!

Zophman Loc: Northwest

It's called work for a reason! It's not called sit-on-your-ass and get paid!

Zophman Loc: Northwest

sueyeisert wrote:

The point is- Workers are loosing their rights whi... (show quote)

Check this out: http://thenextweb.com/insider/2012/04/13/amazon-ceo-jeff-bezos-salary-remains-unchanged-1-68-million-in-2011/#!xJIF8
You can also check all the public documents available on this topic and you'll find the annual salary for Jeff Bezos is $81,800! Overpaid? Not hardly for the CEO of $40 billion enterprise.