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Amazon Workers Unionize!

Deuce said:
It's weird how many right wingers root against workers and for a company like Amazon, of all things.
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It is weird that so many workers support anti-labor union-busting Republicans.

When we say the Republican party has a penchant for getting people to vote against their own better interests, this comes to mind.
 
Crovax said:
The problem is no education/no skill jobs most workers don't want to do what it takes to expand their value as an employee
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No matter what that individual worker does, someone will be working that job. The problem is underpaying for that job. Everyone can't be software engineers. Someone has to work at the Amazon warehouse and someone will be paid that wage.
 
Wonder how much it is going to cost the employees to belong to the Union? If the Union fights for a pay raise how much will the worker actually see.
While I have never belonged to a Union, I suspect the Union leaders do not work for free. Then there would be the buildup of the "strike fund".
 
Torus34 said:
A question I've asked, and which has yet to receive an answer, is this:

What means, other than a union, is available to the individual worker to oppose the power of a corporation?

[Ed.: It should be noted that a corporation's responsibility to labor is defined by law. In states which are 'business friendly', the laws may not be all that generous toward labor. 'Right to work' laws are presented as an example.]

Regards, stay safe 'n well.
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Very little.

And because of the health care conundrum, (being inextricably linked to employment in servitude of the rich and powerful) many who consider starting their own business decide against the idea.
 
NatMorton said:
So, let's imagine in a year or two's time Amazon is looking to expand its capacity in the US. Are they now more or less likely to invest in their unionized NY facility? Might other investment options be more attractive?
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Who's to say more warehouse/distribution centers won't unionize as well??
This maybe the beginning of a new unionizing wave. Unions are at their best when they first start and before outside interests infiltrate.... ✌️
 
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Torus34 said:
Hi, Crovax!

A worker's value to a company is simply that of the wage which would be paid to a new hire capable of doing the job. In times of high unemployment, that value may not be particularly great.

Regards, stay safe 'n well.
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That is a vague statement though, there are always legacy tasks that it would be nearly impossible to train a new hire on, as well a built in skills that are not able to be identified in the hiring process
 
Peacenik said:
Bezos is very smart. And quite heartless. I would not be surprised at all if that warehouse closes down soon.

And if labor is worked up enough about it, such a closure would not go unanswered. What the form of that answer might be, nobody knows.
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If Bezos is smart, and he is, he’ll close the warehouse immediately
Then there will not be another union drive at any other Amazon facility because of pure fear
It would be a very smart move by Bezos
 
Liberal7360 said:
Bezos just built that facility. It opened in 2017. He spent hundreds of millions of dollars to build it and put the proper equipment in it. It is the largest Amazon facility in the state of New York. It was specially built to handle large amounts of packages.

Bezos is probably still paying a mortgage on that building.

Bezos isn't going to spend all that time and money to just abandon it then turn around and do it all over again in a different state.

Bezos didn't become one of the richest men in the world with Amazon one of the largest companies in the world by abandoning large new state of the art facilities after building them. He would lose a ton of money.

If you think that's a good idea then you show to me you never learned how to run a business and never owned one.

I did learn how to run a business in college. I did own a business and was so extremely successful I was able to retire when I was 54 years old with a life long stream of money coming from that business for the rest of my life.

No, Bezos isn't going to do what you suggested. He's not stupid. He won't just walk away from such a large investment leaving his business in the NY area without a facility to process packages and orders.

Watch as Bezos doesn't do what you suggested.
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They guy is loaded. He can afford to play around with hundreds of millions of dollars. He didn't get that rich by allowing unions to control him.
 
Peacenik said:
Very little.

And because of the health care conundrum, (being inextricably linked to employment in servitude of the rich and powerful) many who consider starting their own business decide against the idea.
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Hi, Peacenik!

Thank you for taking time to respond to my OP.

Regards, stay safe 'n well.
 
Nomad4Ever said:
No matter what that individual worker does, someone will be working that job. The problem is underpaying for that job. Everyone can't be software engineers. Someone has to work at the Amazon warehouse and someone will be paid that wage.
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Agreed, and the issue is does the wage match the value provided. I know around here Amazon pays pretty good, I'm guessing they pay even better in NY. If the workers demands mostly go with pay then the warehouse could become unprofitable and close down.
 
mike2810 said:
Wonder how much it is going to cost the employees to belong to the Union? If the Union fights for a pay raise how much will the worker actually see.
While I have never belonged to a Union, I suspect the Union leaders do not work for free. Then there would be the buildup of the "strike fund".
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That is more for multi-location Unions. I don't think they will need 'Union leaders' but shop reps. Strike insurance and all the other costs you mention will probably be voted on later....
 
Nomad4Ever said:
You're right. We should remove all labor protection laws and bring back child labor and sweatshops so companies stop offshoring. That will definitely be a good thing for working Americans.
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Unions drive up labor costs, and drive US companies overseas or to Mexico for cheaper labor
 
Peacenik said:
Bezos is adamantly opposed to having his workforce unionized. He has already spent millions on a disinformation campaign designed to convince those workers to vote against the union. He could have simply improved the lot for workers with that money instead. He could have given them raises, more breaks, more consideration for personal concerns, etc. But no. He spent that money fighting the union effort instead. I would totally not put it past him to close that warehouse, eat the loss, and lay off all those workers.

You don't tell rich and powerful men like Bezos what to do. They have the money, they have the power. They think they can do anything they darn well please. And who is to stop them?
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Bezos just invested hundreds of millions of dollars on the largest facility in New York with state of the art equipment in it.

Bezos didn't get to be one of the richest men in the world with Amazon being one the largest employers by making stupid choices resulting in losing hundreds of millions of dollars.

I've heard such threats all my life at Boeing. Yet Boeing is still in Washington. They built the largest building by area in the world right here in Washington and they did it decades ago.

They can't move. They can and have opened new facilities in other states but they can't move the bulk of it from Washington.

It would cost too much to do so. It would interrupt business and manufacturing way too much. They stopped threatening to move decades ago.

Bezos has the same problem.

Yes he may be rich and powerful but money is more powerful and he's not stupid. He didn't invest hundreds of hundreds of millions of dollars in a facility just to abandon it.

He also knows that there is nothing to stop anyone in New Jersey from unionizing too. So he would be back to where he started.

Bezos will stay in New York and the union will flourish. It has the chance to spread to other Amazon facilities too.

Conditions for workers have changed. Employers are begging for workers. Bezos will work with the union in New York and may end up having to work with a union in other Amazon facilities.

Time will tell.
 
Peacenik said:
Well, they didn't waste much time...

April 2 (Reuters) - The union that Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) workers recently voted to represent them has demanded the company start bargaining in early May and cease any changes to employment terms at their warehouse in the interim, according to a letter the group issued Saturday on Twitter.Amazon's new union demands company start bargaining in May
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Peacenik said:
Well, they didn't waste much time...

April 2 (Reuters) - The union that Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) workers recently voted to represent them has demanded the company start bargaining in early May and cease any changes to employment terms at their warehouse in the interim, according to a letter the group issued Saturday on Twitter.Amazon's new union demands company start bargaining in May
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See post #22. That (suggested) response would not impact “employment terms at their (unionized) warehouse”.
 
Crovax said:
That is a vague statement though, there are always legacy tasks that it would be nearly impossible to train a new hire on, as well a built in skills that are not able to be identified in the hiring process
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Hi again.

Thank you for your response.

Regards, stay safe 'n well.
 
Crovax said:
That is a vague statement though, there are always legacy tasks that it would be nearly impossible to train a new hire on, as well a built in skills that are not able to be identified in the hiring process
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Bezos won't care. He has designed his business to utilize easily replaceable workers.
 
Congratulations!

Yes, labor unions are necessary.

A boss is not going to increase salaries and give various benefits unless he has to.

That's just part of the capitalist system.
 
SMTA said:
If Bezos is smart, and he is, he’ll close the warehouse immediately
Then there will not be another union drive at any other Amazon facility because of pure fear
It would be a very smart move by Bezos
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I would not be surprised. Bezos is ruthless and cold. He doesn't care about people. Only money. Nobody who cares about people should do business with Amazon.
 
gdgyva said:
And if Bezos is smart, he closes that facility now and builds a new one in Jersey......

And his trucks can pay the tolls crossing the bridges

I am sure the mayor will love losing all those jobs and tax dollars
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Either your pro employee abuse, or you don’t know anything about unions, or both.
 
Crovax said:
Agreed, and the issue is does the wage match the value provided. I know around here Amazon pays pretty good, I'm guessing they pay even better in NY. If the workers demands mostly go with pay then the warehouse could become unprofitable and close down.
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Obviously Bezos has a large margin or he would not be worth as much as he is.
 
Peacenik said:
Bezos won't care. He has designed his business to utilize easily replaceable workers.
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Incorrect
Any employee is easily replaceable in any business
New workers are much cheaper than old guard workers
 
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