the unstoppable local-biz-swallowing pseudo-monopoly that is AMAZON

when i make my toast at 3am, i want a machine that can provide a soundtrack to the gritty, waterlogged alley where i prepare my breakfast

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwaRoCCwzxk

Amazon is now running several anti-union ads on Twitch to combat the organizing efforts by their workers in Alabama. pretty shameful stuff from both Amazon and Twitch! pic.twitter.com/08VLvZS0Ir

— Rod Breslau (@Slasher) February 25, 2021

gfy

1/3 I welcome @SenSanders to Birmingham and appreciate his push for a progressive workplace. I often say we are the Bernie Sanders of employers, but that’s not quite right because we actually deliver a progressive workplace https://t.co/Fq8D6vyuh9

— Dave Clark (@davehclark) March 24, 2021

The guillotine isn’t cruel enough.

doesn't seem destined for a bezos length turn does he

1/2 You don’t really believe the peeing in bottles thing, do you? If that were true, nobody would work for us. The truth is that we have over a million incredible employees around the world who are proud of what they do, and have great wages and health care from day one.

— Amazon News (@amazonnews) March 25, 2021

...and Eurasia has always been at war with Eastasia.

last my memory hole said, these wages are great

amazon workers, face toward the...(what is the competitor to amazon? wal-mart? what??) walton family and scream for 2 minutes

Absolutely not seething with resentment

All we want to know is why the Sen is one of the most powerful pols in VT for 30+ yrs and their min wage is STILL only $11.75.AMZN’s min wage is $15 + great health care from Day 1.The Sen should save his finger wagging lecture until after he actually delivers in his own backyard. https://t.co/dRo2Tv1xDQ

— Dave Clark (@davehclark) March 25, 2021

1/2 You don’t really believe the peeing in bottles thing, do you? If that were true, nobody would work for us. The truth is that we have over a million incredible employees around the world who are proud of what they do, and have great wages and health care from day one.

— Amazon News (@amazonnews) March 25, 2021

Really something how bullish anon corporate bluetick accounts are getting.

I like it when it's Ben & Jerry attacking UK government policy tho

In a weird way, I take this recent counterattack stuff as kind of a good sign. It shows that they are finally starting to feel some pressure, since in the past they just buried their heads in the sand and pretended none of this even existed. The fact that they've had to crank up the counterattack may just be a sign that the tide might be starting to turn for the workers.

The sourcing for the peeing-in-bottles story is a bit thin — basically an undercover reporter found one bottle of urine while working at a warehouse, and there are reports of delivery drivers peeing in bottles on the road. (Drivers peeing in bottles is a long-established thing that far predates Amazon, fwiw.)

It is not hard to believe both that the stress and working conditions inside the warehouses is very bad, and also that people actually peeing in bottles is an extremely rare occurrence. Probably not a rhetorical hill to die on.

I agree that bathroom breaks aren't the only issue, but there's no need to downplay it imo.

https://www.theverge.com/2018/4/16/17243026/amazon-warehouse-jobs-worker-conditions-bathroom-breaks

Bloodworth’s findings are in line with first-hand accounts collected in the survey by worker rights platform Organise, which reported that 74 percent of workers avoid using the toilet for fear of being warned they had missed their target numbers.

I agree with jon though, the company getting publicly defensive and trying to gaslight Bernie Sanders on twitter looks much weaker than blithely ignoring this stuff because you know it won't stick. This is also a sign of something: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-03-24/facebook-amazon-edge-out-other-corporate-giants-in-lobby-spend

just tbc: it was the classic abuser's rhetorical strategy of "if they didn't like being exploited, they would leave" that I was struck by in that tweet, not really the substance of the bottle anecdote

Oh yeah, the company's tweets are all bad and are deservedly blowing up in its face. And people feeling pressured not to take bathroom breaks is much better supported by reporting than the pee bottle thing specifically — which of course is why the tweet singled that out rather than addressing the actual problem of working people so hard they're afraid to go to the bathroom.

^^ both of the last two posts otm

The sourcing for the peeing-in-bottles story is a bit thin — basically an undercover reporter found one bottle of urine while working at a warehouse, and there are reports of delivery drivers peeing in bottles on the road. (Drivers peeing in bottles is a long-established thing that far predates Amazon, fwiw.)

Sure it's a pre-established thing but it is also a sign of a predatory business model, especially when we're not talking about truckers driving enormous distances but amazon drivers doing their rounds within a single city.

Owen Jones interviewed an Amazon driver here in the UK who brought up peeing in bottles, totally independent of this thing. A business putting so much strain on its drivers that they don't have time for bathroom breaks seems a fine hill to die on, imo.

Amazon management knows its workers urinate in bottles and even defecate in bags in order to save time, internal company documents leaked to me reveal:https://t.co/m6SK8QlRtF

— Ken Klippenstein (@kenklippenstein) March 25, 2021

wow that was fast. hopefully they keep tweeting dumbass lies

oh, they will

irl lol

Ok, not so thinly sourced!

ken k going ftw. grate graphic too.

I'm beginning to worry that there's a problem with UTIs across the country, given how frequently many of you need a bathroom break?

You really should see doctors about that.

Which you can do if you work full time at an Amazon FC, since we get comprehensive health benefits!

— Lulu at CMH1 📦 (@AmazonFCLulu) March 29, 2021

Waiting for somebody to reveal they got a turd bag accidentally packed in beside their Big Bang Theory BluRays.

Imagine feeling good about tweeting that out, assuming that's not a deep level of parody.

personally I think this new branding strategy is a winner

what brand doesn't want to be immediately associated with piss?

I believe that one's a parody in response to Amazon firing up a bunch of their totally not being held hostage Amazon ambassador accounts to combat the piss bottle stories and union drive.

Okay, yeah, now that I've scrolled further down that timeline, definitely leaning towards parody. Or else her amazon overlords might wanna have her back down a little.

ah ok yeah that's a parody. This one though? https://twitter.com/AmazonFCDarla

How are they so fucking bad at this

The... parodists?

Well, Amazon has been so consistently bad at spin & PR of late that it's a bit difficult to discern even the most ott parodists from the real deal.

If they're not on Sprinklr, it's likely they're not real.

tbc sic I'm 99% sure the one I posted is legit

lol, 5 tweets, 1 of which is apologising for the previous one

I mean "legit" isn't really the right word for this sort of thing, but I don't think this account was made by someone to mock amazon's own-brand fake workers

If you think $30 is all a union will charge us you're crazy! I've heard stories from management about plants where unions come in, make everyone interview for their own jobs again, and in the end they make the same amount but shell out hundreds a year. I'm not that gullible!

— Darla at GYR1 📦 (@AmazonFCDarla) March 29, 2021

🔎

actually never mind, I don't think the ambassador tweeter program exists anymore

Can someone please explain the turtle thing? People keep asking me about turtles, is this a movie reference I'm missing?

— Darla at GYR1 📦 (@AmazonFCDarla) March 29, 2021

🔎🔎🔎

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-49372809

The Amazon ambassadors were posting things just as embarrassing as the parody (and possible parody of Darla) even before the company became one big piss-up.

thank you to amazon for employing 19 year old grandma Rafael, who is 100% real pic.twitter.com/yDJds0VXcD

— pierre menard (@PierreMenard) August 15, 2019

not quite "in defense" of amazon but pissing in bottles is common for people who work deliveries for DHL/UPS ime (having know a few guys who do this for a living)

it's the fulfillment center workers who have to piss in bottles, the drivers are the ones shitting in bags

oh yeah

terrible working conditions without even bathroom breaks are more widespread than just amazon is my point i guess

Absolutely. And anyone spending their work day in a vehicle is going to face this problem. I read a bit about this w/r/t women who drove for uber/lyft sharing tips online about safe bathrooms