I’m a tech millionaire who worked as an Amazon warehouse associate during Peak 2021. I went in skeptical, but came out convinced that more worker protections are needed.
There’s also a Moloch problem here, in that social-media-berating the latest baddie into better behavior, as we did with Walmart 10 years ago, doesn’t solve the problem scalably. We need laws or regulations that ensure a minimum level of decency in a job.
For instance, during my stint, mandatory 11-hour extra days could be added to your schedule up to just 18 hours before the surprise shift, which, if you missed it, would get you fired. I lifted 6 tons of boxes a day with my bare hands at Amazon’s flagship warehouse, BFI4. No one had to pee in bottles, but the work was in other ways inhumane at times.
I’m not sure classic unions are _the_ solution, though. Many unions seem to bind worker protections to non-meritocratic compensation, which can kill motivation. At least it did in BFI4, in very obvious ways. But more basic protections are needed.
There’s also a Moloch problem here, in that social-media-berating the latest baddie into better behavior, as we did with Walmart 10 years ago, doesn’t solve the problem scalably. We need laws or regulations that ensure a minimum level of decency in a job.
For instance, during my stint, mandatory 11-hour extra days could be added to your schedule up to just 18 hours before the surprise shift, which, if you missed it, would get you fired. I lifted 6 tons of boxes a day with my bare hands at Amazon’s flagship warehouse, BFI4. No one had to pee in bottles, but the work was in other ways inhumane at times.
Full details at https://peaksalvation.com, or the Peak Salvation podcast.
I’m not sure classic unions are _the_ solution, though. Many unions seem to bind worker protections to non-meritocratic compensation, which can kill motivation. At least it did in BFI4, in very obvious ways. But more basic protections are needed.