SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
Amazon executives privately insulted a warehouse worker, then attacked him on Twitter:
After firing Chris Smalls, who helped organize a warehouse worker strike at Amazon's Staten Island, New York facility over novel coronavirus safety, Amazon executives publicly attacked him on Twitter. Now we might know why. Leaked meeting notes obtained by Vice Newslay out a plan for executives to smear Smalls and make him the focus of the company's effort to discredit a growing labor movement inside the company.
"He's not smart, or articulate, and to the extent the press wants to focus on us versus him, we will be in a much stronger PR position than simply explaining for the umpteenth time how we're trying to protect workers," said David Zapolsky, Amazon's general counsel, in the meeting notes, which Vice News reports were forwarded throughout the company.
"We should spend the first part of our response strongly laying out the case for why the organizer's conduct was immoral, unacceptable, and arguably illegal, in detail, and only then follow with our usual talking points about worker safety," Zapolsky continued. "Make him the most interesting part of the story, and if possible make him the face of the entire union/organizing movement."
Zapolsky confirmed the authenticity of the memo by explaining his comments: "I let my emotions draft my words and get the better of me," he said in a statement given to the The Verge.But instead of apologizing for denigrating Smalls, he continued to attack him using the same strategy outlined in his memo. "I was frustrated and upset that an Amazon employee would endanger the health and safety of other Amazonians by repeatedly returning to the premises after having been warned to quarantine himself after exposure to virus Covid-19," Zapolsky said.
An Amazon spokesperson said the company could not confirm or comment on the authenticity of any email or memo from Zapolsky.
Smalls helped organize the warehouse walkout that took place on Monday to protest the company's handling of COVID-19. Smalls and other workers were upset at how Amazon has been dealing with unsanitary warehouse working conditions in the event a worker is diagnosed with the illness.
(Score: 3, Funny) by Bot on Monday April 06 2020, @02:44AM (2 children)
Conspiracies don't exist.
Account abandoned.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by JoeMerchant on Monday April 06 2020, @02:49AM
What's remarkable is that execs at a company that lives on the Web with trackable, traceable, discoverable everything would think that it's O.K. to discuss something like this anywhere but in a closed door office, with a sufficient outside white noise to mask their conversation.
Of course this kind of thing goes on all the time, the people that do it usually aren't arrogant (or careless) enough to not care who finds out.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 06 2020, @05:32AM
Conspiracy has the implication of engaging in something illegal, unethical, or whatever else. This is just PR management. They simply think a significant figure in the 'labor movement' is a [literal] idiot, and decide to focus on him.
The alternative to planning would to be to have a incoherent disorganized response, which is kind of nonsensical.
I'm not taking a stance for or against one side or the other, only saying that calling this a conspiracy is like calling a guy trying to organize a conspiracy. It doesn't really make any sense.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Snotnose on Monday April 06 2020, @02:46AM (12 children)
If its the story I think it is (can't be bothered to read the article) then the guy was on paid leave to self quarantine. But he decided to go to a meeting. He got fired for violating quarantine orders (which IMHO he should have been), not for trying to organize workers.
When the dust settled America realized it was saved by a porn star.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by JoeMerchant on Monday April 06 2020, @02:52AM (1 child)
Facts, you're boring us with facts? (that's the outside story I read as well...) This isn't about whether or not the guy deserved what he got, it's about the handling of it: "we've got a lameo leading a protest and he can't present himself even as well as Donald Trump with a teleprompter, blow it public and make him look the fool." Because, if the guy could argue his way out of a paper bag, or present on camera with some charisma, Amazon would likely have tried to handle it differently (hush him up with "compensation" or maybe meeting some of his demands, I would guess...)
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 06 2020, @05:36AM
Your argument is a nonstarter. If the guy had half a brain cell he wouldn't have shown up to a meeting after being placed in quarantine for potential COVID exposure, and thus would not have been fired.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Monday April 06 2020, @02:57AM (9 children)
Yeah, attending the meeting was reckless endangerment. Maybe I would agree with the guy's goals and whatnot, but reckless endangerment of fellow workers is over the line.
(Score: 2) by edIII on Monday April 06 2020, @03:14AM
I'm a very strong union supporter, and it doesn't seem this guy took adequate steps at all to protect himself and fellow workers. It's not like 100 years ago, union organizers have far more tools to keep in contact with fellow workers these days. They don't need physical contact to hold union meetings.
One one had, fuck Amazon and this guy is entirely right, and all of my support to the workers. On the other hand, fuck this guy, he should be fired and his fellow workers should admonish the shit out him.
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Ethanol-fueled on Monday April 06 2020, @04:17AM (3 children)
He's a Brotha. Can you imagine what effect is has on public perception when a bunch of Jewish lawyers attack a brotha, period, much less call him "inarticulate" and continue to publicly slam him.
(Score: 2) by PartTimeZombie on Monday April 06 2020, @10:38PM (2 children)
Only rubes like you care about the ethnic identities of the people involved.
It is literally the least important aspect of the whole affair.
(Score: 1) by Ethanol-fueled on Monday April 06 2020, @10:45PM (1 child)
Not to public opinion, it ain't. And the public are rubes who vote and literally form angry mobs and break random shit whenever some Black or Jewish prankster leaves a noose in the hallway of some college dorm.
(Score: 2) by PartTimeZombie on Monday April 06 2020, @10:58PM
Oh yes.
Because that happens all the time.
(Score: 5, Informative) by MadTinfoilHatter on Monday April 06 2020, @06:18AM (3 children)
Um, no? From TFA:
See? The quarantine order was just Amazon's BS excuse to get rid of the unionizing leader. It had nothing to do with COVID-19. Amazon wasn't looking after worker safety, they were looking after their own bottom line.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 06 2020, @09:02AM
Everything old is new again. Including companies' efforts to shit on union organizers. Reminds me when a Walmart was unionized in Canada.... so Walmart closed the store.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/quebec-unionized-wal-mart-workers-win-supreme-court-victory-1.2689646 [www.cbc.ca]
Just look at the efforts that were needed to unionize auto workers or meat packers. Yeah, meat packers *used to* be a respectable, good paying job because a union represented rights of the workers. Now, you get a thousand bucks if you saw off your finger and then dismissed for not being productive anymore. Today, that job is just as bad as before it was unionized. Squeeze the workers for every buck, like the mutant-chickens they cut up so Walmart and Tyson can make $0.10 more per lb they sell and the CEO can leach another $1m
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Monday April 06 2020, @01:00PM (1 child)
This is why it's good that quarantine orders only come around every 100 years or so - people (bad people, mostly) will use them, push them hard, as a BS excuse for whatever real agenda is driving them, and ignore them as much as they can get away with otherwise. Demonstrated clearly with HIPPA, "environmental protection" and many other laws.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 06 2020, @03:19PM
HIPAA
Health
Insurance
Portability and
Accountability
Act
(Score: 0, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 06 2020, @03:21AM (6 children)
So much fake news these days.
I don't doubt c-suite cocksuckers would do these things, but still, let's keep cool - it's a time to pull together.
I hope this will jolt us into implementing a universal healthcare.
Yeah, fuck you. A guy can dream, can't he.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 06 2020, @12:54PM
If only.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 06 2020, @03:31PM
We can get single payer healthcare on a state-by-state basis the same way we're ending cannabis prohibition.
Colorado said yes to cannabis, and now we're getting closer to the part where 3/4s of the several states more or less force the federal government to remove cannabis from Schedule I (same thing happened with alcohol... note that cogress will swoop in at the last moment to avoid an Article V convention). But Colorado's voters also said no to single payer healthcare recently.
If you live in a state with a ballot initiative process, send around a petition to put single payer healthcare on the ballot. Gather signatures, get it on the ballot. Campaign for it, and then vote for it.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Monday April 06 2020, @04:54PM (3 children)
Something that sensible will never happen.
Corporations are people too. Too big to fail. Prices can't be regulated.
When trying to solve a problem don't ask who suffers from the problem, ask who profits from the problem.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 06 2020, @07:58PM (1 child)
Yeah, your "sensible" solution will one day decide you are too old to be saved.
(Score: 2) by PartTimeZombie on Monday April 06 2020, @10:43PM
True. As we know from the way all the old people are refused treatment all over Europe. (for example).
(Score: 1) by khallow on Monday April 06 2020, @09:41PM
Corporate personhood != person. Look up the history of corporate personhood some time. The legal concept came about because governments at all levels were abusing the rights of the people who make up the corporation. And those reasons still exist.
Neither which has anything to do with corporate personhood, or in turn universal health care. They would still be happening even if (or rather especially if) we implemented publicly-paid universal health care.