this post was submitted on 07 Aug 2023
763 points (98.5% liked)

Technology

59643 readers
3506 users here now

This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.


Our Rules


  1. Follow the lemmy.world rules.
  2. Only tech related content.
  3. Be excellent to each another!
  4. Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
  5. Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
  6. Politics threads may be removed.
  7. No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
  8. Only approved bots from the list below, to ask if your bot can be added please contact us.
  9. Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed

Approved Bots


founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

Amazon Says It Doesn't 'Employ' Drivers, But Records Show It Hired Firms to Prevent Them From Unionizing::Amazon spent $14.2 million total on anti-union consulting in 2022, filings with the Department of Labor show.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] 64 points 1 year ago (4 children)

What's crazy is I hear unionization is usually more expensive to fight against, but these CEO's are essentially morally opposed to it. Every time I hear stories of these people their lives would have been so much easier and their businesses more profitable but they just cannot stand people unionizing.

[–] gibmiser 24 points 1 year ago

Well basically it means they have to actually negotiate with their workers via unions. That's almost like work. They prefer not to have to do anything to "earn" their billions.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 1 year ago (1 children)

They also have the option of not treating them like shit. Happy workers don’t usually want to unionize.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I’m a fairly happy employee and I want to unionize.

I remember working through the Great Recession and I never want to take a 7 year pay cut again.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Happy wasn’t the best word. Well taken care of employees who know their employers care don’t typically feel the need to unionize. In other words, it’s not going to be high on their priority list, nor is the risk of retaliation going to be worth it.

[–] Nevoic 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

If you're in an environment that would retaliate against you for unionizing, you're not "well taken care of".

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Do you really know though? The point is, if you’re well compensated, have good work-life balance, treated well, have good people around and above you, the thought of unionizing isn’t likely to be that important to you.

[–] Nevoic 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yeah I do, just on the principle that an environment that retaliates against worker solidarity is an oppressive environment.

It's similar to someone saying "can slaves be well taken care of by their owners?" Many people would say yes, but I would say no on principle. No matter how short the work day, no matter the benefits, months off every year, etc. I would say on principle that being owned means you're not well taken care of.

The principle here being that sometimes "one" negative can be enough to mean you're not "well-taken care of".

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

That’s not an appropriate comparison.

[–] Nevoic 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

There's a subset of people that anytime a comparison is made, where one situation is worse than the other, something happens where they become unable to understand the concept of a principle.

It's like you recognize "hey, chattel slavery is worse than wage slavery!" (which is correct), and therefore there can be no principle applicable to both situations (incorrect).

I assume it's that you're offended by the comparison, and the emotion gets the better of you, disallowing you from thinking clearly about it. I don't know what else it would be.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I’m not offended. It’s like another Godwin’s law.

[–] Nevoic 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Saying the word "Nazi" or "slave" or whatever doesn't automatically make someone incorrect. Even if this were another Godwin's law that doesn't make the comparison invalid.

[–] captainlezbian 16 points 1 year ago

Yeah it’s because it flies in the face of their hierarchy

[–] Custoslibera 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

That’s weirdest part, at this point the hoops Amazon has jumped through vs how profitable of a company they are - it must be cheaper for them to just let people unionise and pay them more + give better conditions?