http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/inside-world-online-retail-warehouse-worker-130235671.html?l=1
And the gory details.
http://articles.mcall.com/2011-09-18/news/mc-allentown-amazon-complaints-20110917_1_warehouse-workers-heat-stress-brutal-heat
Many of the employees are not employees of the e-commerce company but are furnished as fulfilling a labor contract with a brokerage firm, so the employees can unionize against the e-commerce company, they are not e-commerce company employees.
One thing I find curious, about the stories themselves, is that the first link, the investigator states that they cannot reveal where the video was taken. I'm not sure I understand this. The second link, the story indicates where the warehouse is located that the person working and complaining is at. But the first link makes it all mysterious on where the warehouse is. Why is this an issue? If the warehouse has bad working conditions, why can't we just say where it is?
It was cold and hard floored, but I'd do it again if I needed the wages. These conditions may be worse than I encountered, though.
Kept me fit too, all that walking, lifting and cycling back and forth to work.
worked at Amway loading trucks at the central warehouse.
In the summer it was 110 in the trucks on some days and
in the 30's in the winter. But there were no women, nobody
over 30, no fat asses. We were all in our early to mid 20's,
they wouldn't hire you for the job if you weren't.
They could hire who they wanted in those days. We loved it,
its a young mans job. We were in great shape from lifting
and throwing around tons of product every day. Now it
would be middle aged women, the grossly obese,
and men in their late 50's. They have to hire them and
kowtow to their every demand. I can guarantee that out
of the 3000 who worked at that warehouse in the article
that the majority of the fit workers don't have a problem.
We live in a society of whiners.
In every local casino I go to, I'm shocked by the blimps I
see in the pit. There's always one or two immense people
who are at circus weight, that the casino had to hire under
federal guidelines. They must be miserable having to be on
their feet all day and consider the casino to a slave labor
camp.
worked at Amway loading trucks at the central warehouse."
In 1966 my bussy was in the Army, back from Vietnam with 60 days to go. They had him unloading ships in Baltimore Harbor 16 to 18 hours a day. he went AWOL with 30 days left to serve. The day after he spotted the FBI cruising the neighborhood , he turned himself in. He got 60 days hard labor, I heard. 3 days later i saw him at the race track. I did not call out his name, but slid next to him, wondering if he was AWOL again.
Turned out he got hard labor in the kitchen at Fort Meade. And the head cook loved the ponies too. So after breakfast service was over, the cook gave Joe his bets to take to the track. Hard Labor my ass LOL
They would be so much happier collecting their welfare checks while we would be enjoying the high prices and low quality of Best Buy.
Are people expecting warehouses to only stock shelfs where everything is waist height? I am very out of shape but that doesn't stop me from puting stuff on the floor and then picking it up. My entire house isn't just stuff where I don't have to bend down or reach up for stuff. Why would I expect my place of business to be any different?
I'm all for workers rights, but I just don't know what people are expecting in this situation. Even if you go back to 2007-2008 where everyone that wanted a job could get a job, there were still people doing these jobs. If people didn't want to work there, amazon couldn't fill orders, they would get worse reviews, have to raise prices to do different order picking, ect...
to electronics. I needed a new thermostat last winter and got it
from Amazon. I can't remember what I did before. Oh yeah, ran
around to different stores and wasted a whole afternoon.
Quote: EvenBobIt makes me laugh. What a bunch of crybabies. In 1969 I
worked at Amway loading trucks at the central warehouse.
In the summer it was 110 in the trucks on some days and
in the 30's in the winter. But there were no women, nobody
over 30, no fat asses. We were all in our early to mid 20's,
they wouldn't hire you for the job if you weren't.
They could hire who they wanted in those days. We loved it,
its a young mans job. We were in great shape from lifting
and throwing around tons of product every day. Now it
would be middle aged women, the grossly obese,
and men in their late 50's. They have to hire them and
kowtow to their every demand. I can guarantee that out
of the 3000 who worked at that warehouse in the article
that the majority of the fit workers don't have a problem.
We live in a society of whiners.
In every local casino I go to, I'm shocked by the blimps I
see in the pit. There's always one or two immense people
who are at circus weight, that the casino had to hire under
federal guidelines. They must be miserable having to be on
their feet all day and consider the casino to a slave labor
camp.[/q
No doubt you worked hard. But do you not agree these conditions should not be allowed? You can't say all these people are lazy, fat or crybabies.IF YOU PLAY "PLAY TO WIN"
I too worked loading docks 6 hours a day (part time job) when I was 45 - 46 years old. I was still in very good shape and even worked in some golf 2 days a week. In addition, I had a full time 9 hour per day, 7 days a week supervisor's job at a local factory. The dock job was only 5 days per week. I needed extra money to help with 2 daughters in college. They really kept us hustling at the docks. I don't recall taking any breaks since it was a part time gig. We too had no heavys or women. It was tiring but I kinda liked it. Heck, I was single and dating during that time. Didn't give it up until one of my girls won a nice scholarship. Whoopee!
I too worked loading docks 6 hours a day (part time job) when I was 45 - 46 years old. I was still in very good shape and even worked in some golf 2 days a week. In addition, I had a full time 9 hour per day, 7 days a week supervisor's job at a local factory. The dock job was only 5 days per week. I needed extra money to help with 2 daughters in college. They really kept us hustling at the docks. I don't recall taking any breaks since it was a part time gig. We too had no heavys or women. It was tiring but I kinda liked it. Heck, I was single and dating during that time. Didn't give it up until one of my girls won a nice scholarship. Whoopee!
I think the best thing about the Amazon site is the reviews. I actually feel like there are honest reviews from people who actually used the item and have something to say about it.Quote: EvenBobI love Amazon. I buy everything from books and DVD's to car parts
to electronics. I needed a new thermostat last winter and got it
from Amazon. I can't remember what I did before. Oh yeah, ran
around to different stores and wasted a whole afternoon.
it asks what credit card you want to use and it lists
even the expired ones. The first card I used expired in '98,
so it was probably '96 when I first used it. My password
is still only 5 characters long.
Quote: konceptumOne thing I find curious, about the stories themselves, is that the first link, the investigator states that they cannot reveal where the video was taken. I'm not sure I understand this. The second link, the story indicates where the warehouse is located that the person working and complaining is at. But the first link makes it all mysterious on where the warehouse is. Why is this an issue? If the warehouse has bad working conditions, why can't we just say where it is?
I only scanned this thread, so I haven't clicked on the links. However, there are a lot of laws about cameras on premises. If the first one was done with a hidden camera, the person filming is liable to be sued or even charged with criminal trespassing because of bringing the camera. The point of it being "secretive" is to hope somebody who knows where that warehouse is will report working conditions to OSHA, who will then do their own investigation.
A lot of laws seem to be stupid; why can't you expose terrible working conditions via camera? However, they were written with the intent that a competitor couldn't come in and video tape what you are doing and use it to their benefit. With camera phones and smaller devices, this is getting harder and harder to detect, but if you're open about what you did (with social media and youtube) it's also a lot easier to prosecute.