26

Nov

11:40pm
Sumedha Chatterjee Ireland
Workers of Amazon Unite!

Workers of Amazon Unite!

Sumedha Chatterjee Ireland//11:40pm, Nov 26th '21

It is no secret that pandemic has exacerbated inequality. As the rich stuffed their coffers, the working class was scrambling to make ends meet. Worst of all, they had to work throughout the pandemic, discarding any concerns about their safety. The pandemic got us all, but some had it worse than the others. According to Forbes, throughout the epidemic, Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s founder and CEO, has reaped enormous benefits. Bezos became the world's wealthiest individual, with a net worth that has nearly doubled to over $200 billion.

Amazon's revenues grew 40% year over year in the second quarter of 2020. Sales of online grocery delivery have increased over the previous year, according to the business. So, the workers must have reaped benefits of their hard work, right?

Had this happened, trickle down economics would actually have succeeded. But such is not the case. The company had asked employees to take unpaid time to undergo COVID screenings before clocking in to work.  And it was rightfully sued.According to the lawsuit, the corporation has forced employees to undergo health exams before clocking in at its warehouses since March 2020. According to the lawsuit, employees were frequently required to arrive early and wait in large lines to answer health screening questions and have their temperatures taken. According to the complaint, the entire procedure might take anywhere from 20 to 60 minutes.

Even before the epidemic, Amazon compelled warehouse employees to work off the clock for a few minutes each day, according to the complaint. Additionally, Amazon was fined $500,000 for concealing the number of COVID-19 cases at its California offices from its workers.Employers must notify workers who may have been exposed to COVID-19 within one day, and must submit COVID-19 case numbers to local health agencies within 48 hours if they "fit the definition of a COVID-19 outbreak ," according to the legislation.

Image

Moreover, deaths in warehouses have become increasingly common.Billy Foister, a 48-year-old Amazon warehouse worker, died of a heart attack at work in September 2019. An Amazon human resources official informed his brother at the hospital that Billy had been lying on the floor for 20 minutes before obtaining care from Amazon's internal safety responders, according to his brother.

Concerns over working conditions have been raised after a second worker died at an Amazon warehouse in Poland in October this year.

The deaths have been connected by the wife of one of the deceased, as well as coworkers and employee organisations, to severe workloads and supervisors' unwillingness to respond to concerns.

As a result, Amazon, which employs 23,000 workers in Poland directly and another 28,000 indirectly, conducted legally mandated internal investigations and determined that both occurrences were caused by medical concerns. According to the business, "proper protocols" were followed at the scene, and 200 individuals skilled in first aid were on hand. Such a sorry state of affairs.

To make matters worse, Amazon had been unrolling anti worker policies. The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW), which represents 1.3 million workers in grocery, meatpacking, and other frontline sectors, has criticised Amazon's decision to expand its new Amazon Fresh supermarket chain and Amazon Go cashierless stores at a rapid pace. These workers are no luddites, they are genuinely concerned about losing their livelihood.

If you read our blogs then why not our magazine!!!
Image
Click here to subscribe our monthly magazine

What do the workers want?

Amazon workers have nothing to lose but their chains. Their constant efforts to unionise to protest against the abysmal working conditions have constantly been thwarted.

“Amazon has always been actively trying to dissuade employees from organizing unions,” said Marcus Courtney, a longtime labor advocate who attempted to unionize call center workers at Amazon in the early 2000s. “That was true 20 years ago and it’s true today.” “Amazon controls everything from bathroom breaks to communication with other employees,” Kochan said. “If a union comes in, they’re going to lose some of that control and that’s ultimately what they fear most.” Amazon advertised a position for two intelligence analysts who would watch "labour organising threats" and other sensitive areas and submit their findings to "internal stakeholders, up to and including senior leadership," according to CNBC.

This is how Bezos succeeds.

Image

Come Black Friday, the workers are expected to take charge of their paths. The day of the shopping sales is one of Amazon's busiest of the year.

A day of action is being organised by "Make Amazon Pay," an international coalition of labour, equality, and environmental organisations.

The campaign is calling on Amazon to make changes to its company, such as better pay, the elimination of employee surveillance, and union participation.

In Germany, for example, the Verdi union has called for a strike to begin on Wednesday night at major shipping centres. In France, the CGT, a prominent labour union, is also asking on workers to stop working.

The Make Amazon Pay alliance has gathered over 50 organisations from around the world to endorse a list of shared expectations.

In times like these I cannot help but quote Gioconda Bellí. Belli says,
I want a strike of workers, of drivers, of technicians, of doctors, of doves, of flowers, of children, of women
I want a big strike that includes even love.
A strike where everything is shut down:
the watch, the factories, the nursery, the schools, the bus, the highway, the hospitals, the harbors
The success of this strike could alter their lives for better.

Sinister Plot Unveiled: The Covert Machinations of Canada in Haiti’s Tragic Destiny
Karl Fluri Canada//12:56am, May 21st '23

Sinister Plot Unveiled: The Covert Machinations of Canada in Haiti’s Tragic Destiny

Haiti, comrades, stands before us as a harrowing testament to the crimes committed by imperialist powers. More than two centuries ago, the brave Haitian people rose up against the chains of French colonialism,....

Read More
Timing is Everything
Jerry Grey China//6:40pm, Mar 18th '23

Timing is Everything

About the only thing that is certain on the issue of the Nord Stream sabotage is that China didn’t do it. But, as global headlines declare, the plot keeps thickening as theories keep changing even that....

Read More
UKRAINE: An historical background to the US/NATO proxy war against Russia
Ian Beddowes Zimbabwe//10:08pm, May 17th '23

UKRAINE: An historical background to the US/NATO proxy war against Russia

Russia, under the leadership of Vladimir Putin, has challenged the right of the USA to implement regime change through the use of extremist groups, terrorism and media manipulation and then establish military....

Read More
On Human Rights
Kalatan Banerjee India//8:48pm, Mar 22nd '22

On Human Rights

These days we see everyone concerned about restoring human rights wherever they are violated. We see human rights as an inalienable divine gift to humanity by some divine being, and nowadays it is so enmeshed....

Read More
Sleepwalking into War - Part 2
Stewart McGill UK//8:29pm, Mar 12th '23

Sleepwalking into War - Part 2

Why the Inflation Reduction Act matters to Africa, Europe and saving the environment. The previous article focused on how decoupling is all about impeding China’s development. In this, we will talk....

Read More
Two Speeches – Two Worldviews
Christopher Black Canada//9:36pm, Dec 29th '22

Two Speeches – Two Worldviews

On March 5th, 1946, Winston Churchill delivered his famous Sinews of Peace speech in Fulton Missouri in which he famously claimed that, “an Iron Curtain has descended across Europe.”  The essential....

Read More